Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department for close to two hours on Wednesday as part of an investigation into an alleged illegal vehicle importation and assembly network, NewsFirst reported.
He arrived at the CID in Colombo on Wednesday morning, as Ada Derana, the Daily Mirror and Hiru News reported at the time, and left the premises early in the afternoon after recording a statement.
The jeep at the centre of the case
The questioning stems from a wider inquiry run by the Terrorism Investigation Division with assistance from Sri Lanka Customs into the suspected illegal importation, assembly and sale of motor vehicles, according to NewsFirst’s account of the investigators’ position.
At its centre is a luxury jeep believed to have been brought into the country between 2020 and 2021. A forensic examination by the Government Analyst found the vehicle had allegedly been assembled using a fraudulent chassis number. Investigators say that number was taken from a vehicle concealed inside a shipping container declared as carrying earth-moving machinery.
Several people have been arrested in the case, and investigators said those detained could not produce documentation showing the jeep had been legally imported. The wider operation has so far identified 18 illegally imported high-powered vehicles and motorcycles.
Investigators told NewsFirst that statements given by the main suspect indicated an alleged link to Yoshitha Rajapaksa, and that he was summoned on that basis to record a statement.
Spokesman rejects wrongdoing claims
Manoj Gamage, spokesperson for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said Yoshitha had not been summoned as a suspect and denied reports connecting him to any vehicle-related offence.
“The claims circulating that Yoshitha Rajapaksa was summoned in connection with any form of vehicle misuse are completely false. No allegation whatsoever has been made against him regarding vehicle-related misconduct,” Gamage said, adding that he was called to the CID solely to give a statement.
Rajapaksa is separately a party to other proceedings, including a money laundering trial before the Colombo High Court and a Bribery Commission case in which he and former Navy commander Wasantha Karannagoda were indicted this month. Giving a statement to an investigating agency does not imply arrest or the filing of charges, and none of the allegations in these matters has been proven.
