Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Son Yoshitha Arrested on Corruption Charges

Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was arrested by Colombo police on Saturday (24 January).

The arrest pertains to corruption charges related to a property purchase case.

A former navy officer, Yoshitha Rajapaksa, was arrested in Beliatta, his family's stronghold.

The arrest follows an investigation of alleged misconduct in the purchase of the property during the term of his father's presidency prior to 2015, news agency PTI reported.

Yoshitha Rajapaksa is the second of Mahinda Rajapaksa's three sons.

His uncle and former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was also quizzed by the police last week on the same property - a holiday home in the southern religious resort of Kataragama.

Yoshitha’s arrest comes after Mahinda Rajapaksa’s filing of a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court on Friday.

The former president is seeking the court’s intervention to restore his security detail, which was significantly reduced by the government last month.

Since the formation of a new government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in November last year, Mahinda Rajapaksa's eldest son and legislator Namal Rajapaksa was questioned by police regarding a separate property case.

An employee of the former president was also interrogated in connection with the case.

In the lead-up to elections, the new government had pledged to arrest all individuals accused of misconduct during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency, which spanned from 2005 to 2015.

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