The alleged organised crime figure known as “Kehelbaddara Padme” has been remanded until September 3 by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court, ending a period of nearly a year in which he was held under successive detention orders rather than in judicial custody.

Hiru News named him as Koralagamage Mandinu Pathmasiri Perera. He was produced before Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama by the Criminal Investigation Department on Tuesday under heavy security, both Ada Derana and Hiru News reported, and the magistrate ordered him remanded.

Detained since a Katunayake arrival last August

Hiru News reported that the CID asked for remand because the detention period had expired. He was arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake, on August 31, 2025, on arrival from Indonesia, and had been questioned under detention orders from then until Tuesday — a span of just under 12 months.

Investigators told the court that charges have been framed against him under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Also named in the Aluthkade court shooting

The CID additionally asked the court to direct the Superintendent of Prisons to produce him on September 4, the date on which a second case is next called. In that case he is named as the 18th suspect in the murder of “Ganemulla Sanjeewa”, who was shot dead inside the Aluthkade court complex in February 2025.

That numbering sits oddly against earlier reporting. In May, investigators told Ada Derana that Padme was the prime suspect in the same killing, in the course of alleging that “Gampaha Ousmand” had run his money laundering and that the pair’s long-running public feud had been staged to mislead police. Suspects in Sri Lankan cases are numbered by the order in which they are named rather than by alleged culpability, and neither outlet addresses the difference.

A second remand the same morning

The same magistrate remanded a second suspect until September 3 hours later. Nilanga Sampath Silva, alias “Panadura Nilanga”, described by Ada Derana as an alleged drug trafficker, was also produced by the CID after being held under a detention order, and was remanded to the same date.

Prison officers’ numbers found on his phone

NewsFirst, reporting on the same hearing, said the CID told the court that an analysis of Kehelbaddara Padme’s mobile phone had recovered the contact numbers of 13 prison officers, together with photographs of seven models and political figures. The outlet reported that the disclosure was made as the two suspects were produced following the expiry of their detention orders.

Neither the officers nor the people in the photographs were named, and NewsFirst did not report what investigators allege the contacts were used for.

By NewsFirst’s account it was the Colombo Crimes Division, rather than the CID, that told the court he had now been named the 18th suspect in the Ganemulla Sanjeewa case.

Defence asks for protection, and to avoid Welisara

Attorney-at-Law Chaminda Athukorala, appearing for Kehelbaddara Padme, asked the court to direct prison authorities to ensure his client’s safety in custody, and further asked that he be held somewhere other than Welisara Prison.

The magistrate ordered prison authorities to provide adequate security and said responsibility for the suspect’s safety would rest with the Superintendent of Prisons. He also directed that a summary of evidence relating to the alleged offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act be submitted to court.

Two accounts of the arrest, and of the name

NewsFirst reported that Kehelbaddara Padme and Panadura Nilanga were among five suspects arrested in Indonesia on August 27 last year before being returned to Sri Lanka. Hiru News dated the arrest to August 31, 2025, at Bandaranaike International Airport on arrival from Indonesia. The two are compatible — detention abroad followed by arrest on landing — but no outlet has set out the sequence explicitly.

The outlets also differ on his name: NewsFirst gives Manudinu Padmasiri Perera, Hiru News Koralagamage Mandinu Pathmasiri Perera.

Neither man has been convicted. The allegations against both remain untested in court.

Update: August 26 — sent to Boossa, not Welisara

Kehelbaddara Padme has been transferred to the Boossa high-security prison, NewsFirst reported on Wednesday. The Prisons Department said he was brought to the prison under tight security.

The move answers the request his lawyer made in court a day earlier. Attorney-at-Law Chaminda Athukorala had asked that his client be held somewhere other than Welisara Prison and that authorities ensure his safety in custody, and the magistrate placed responsibility for that safety with the Superintendent of Prisons.

Boossa, in the Galle district, is the facility Sri Lanka uses for suspects held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and for those regarded as high-risk in custody — consistent with the charges investigators told the court have been framed against him.

Neither the Prisons Department nor NewsFirst said whether the transfer was made in response to the defence request, on the court’s direction, or on the department’s own assessment. He remains remanded until September 3.

Update, September 3: remanded again, to September 17, appearing by Zoom from Boossa

Kehelbaddara Padme was remanded until September 17 by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama when the case was called on Thursday, Hiru News reported. Investigating officers asked for the further remand on the grounds that inquiries are continuing, and the order followed submissions by the Criminal Investigation Department.

He did not appear in person. The suspect appeared before the court via Zoom from Boossa Prison — the high-security facility he was transferred to on August 26, after his lawyer asked that he be held somewhere other than Welisara.

The magistrate split the cases by jurisdiction

The more consequential part of the order concerns how the proceedings are to be organised. The magistrate directed the CID to refer cases concerning the suspect that are before other courts to those respective jurisdictions, and restricted the matters before his own court to two: the case under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and the case concerning the Ganemulla Sanjeewa homicide.

That resolves the scheduling arrangement described above. On August 25 the CID had asked this court to direct the Superintendent of Prisons to produce him on September 4 for the Ganemulla Sanjeewa case; both matters now sit before the Colombo Chief Magistrate together, with everything else moved out.

Hiru did not report whether the September 4 production date still stands, how many other cases are affected, or which courts they are before.

A third spelling of the name

Hiru now writes the alias “Kehelbeddara Padme” and the name Koralagamage Mandinu Padmasiri Perera — where its own August 25 report gave Pathmasiri and the alias as Kehelbaddara. LankaNewz has kept Kehelbaddara Padme and Pathmasiri, following the form used in this archive since the case began and in the majority of reporting to date. NewsFirst separately gives Manudinu Padmasiri Perera. No outlet has published a settled form.

Still unreported

No outlet has said what stage the PTA case has reached, whether the summary of evidence the magistrate ordered in August has been filed, or why the suspect appeared remotely rather than in person. None reports whether the defence renewed its request for protective custody arrangements.

Sources