Sri Lanka arrests Rajapaksa party chief over alleged death threat

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police arrested a party leader of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday for allegedly issuing a death threat against the police chief, officers said.

Sagara Kariyawasam, the General-Secretary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP), was taken into custody, the latest in a list of associates of relatives of the once-untouchable Rajapaksa political dynasty to be arrested.

The leftist government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power in September 2024 on a promise to crack down on bribery and graft.

Kariyawasam, at a press conference in Colombo last week, warned Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasooriya that he could be killed if he continued to be partisan.

Weerasooriya “considers this a death threat”, a police official said.

“The SLPP General-Secretary was arrested after recording a statement, and he is being taken before a magistrate.”

The former leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is himself facing allegations that he received kickbacks from Airbus over an aircraft purchase deal that was eventually scrapped.

The 80-year-old former president’s three children, wife, two brothers and several nephews and nieces are facing charges of money-laundering and stealing state funds.