MP Ravi Karunanayake was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption on Monday after several hours of questioning, produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court, and granted bail the same evening.

The former finance minister had gone to the commission that morning to give a statement in an investigation into recruitments at the National Lotteries Board, ending a standoff over four summonses he had not answered. Officers recorded his statement and then placed him under arrest, NewsFirst and the Daily Mirror reported.

Ada Derana reported roughly two hours later that he had been produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court. The court granted him bail that evening — see the update below.

Outlets still differ on how many recruits are involved

The investigation concerns employees taken on at the National Lotteries Board and then, investigators allege, used for political work at a loss to the government. The number of people involved is still not settled between newsrooms.

NewsFirst and the Daily Mirror both put it at five, recruited on contract outside approved procedure and attached to Karunanayake’s personal staff. Ada Derana put it at three, recruited for a special project of the board and deployed for political activities.

The Daily Mirror’s own account has moved. In its report on the morning appearance it gave the figure as three; in its arrest report hours later it gave five, in wording close to NewsFirst’s. It did not note the change. Ada Derana has stayed with three throughout.

The outlets also disagree on when he arrived. Ada Derana reported earlier in the day that he reached the commission shortly after 9 a.m.; NewsFirst and the Daily Mirror both put it at about 8.15 a.m. NewsFirst’s own morning report gave no time.

What led to the arrest

Karunanayake had been summoned four times without appearing. Commission officers went to his Rajamalwatta Road residence in Battaramulla on Saturday and did not find him there — NewsFirst described this as a search, the Daily Mirror as a visit, and neither reported a warrant. His lawyers then asked for another date, citing arrangements for his daughter’s wedding, and Monday’s appearance followed that request.

A former chairperson of the National Lotteries Board was arrested in the same investigation and released on bail on June 30 on two sureties of Rs. 1 million each. NewsFirst spells the name Shyamila Perera; earlier reporting in this archive has it as Sharmila Perera.

What remains unreported

As of the afternoon, no outlet had reported the charges on which Karunanayake was arrested or the legal basis for the arrest, and none had published the terms of his bail or carried a comment from him or his lawyers. Hiru News reported the arrest in two sentences and gave no detail of the investigation. Hiru filed a much fuller account of the court proceedings later in the day, which answers most of these questions — see the second update below.

Karunanayake features in other matters before investigators and the courts, including the treasury bond case involving him and former Central Bank governor Arjuna Mahendran, whose extradition remains blocked. LankaNewz has not established any link between those matters and the National Lotteries Board investigation, and no outlet connected them.

Update: bail granted on Monday evening

The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court granted Karunanayake bail on Monday evening, NewsFirst reported, a little over three hours after he was produced before it. The Daily Mirror and Ada Derana both carried the release within the same half hour, resolving the question left open earlier in the day.

Ada Derana said the order was issued after the court considered submissions from CIABOC officials and from lawyers appearing for Karunanayake. None of the three outlets published the bail conditions — no sureties, cash bail, travel restriction or next court date has been reported. That is a notable omission given that the former National Lotteries Board chairperson arrested in the same investigation was released in June on two sureties of Rs. 1 million each, terms that were reported at the time.

The outlets also describe the court slightly differently. NewsFirst and Ada Derana’s earlier filing name the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court; Ada Derana’s bail report calls it the Colombo Magistrate’s Court. NewsFirst’s account otherwise matches its own earlier reporting — an 8.15 a.m. appearance, several hours of questioning, and five recruits attached to the former minister’s personal staff.

The arrest and release therefore ran their course inside a single day: a summons answered in the morning, a statement recorded, an arrest, a court appearance around midday and bail by evening.

Second update: Hiru publishes the bail terms and the charge

Hiru News filed a detailed account of the hearing on Monday evening, supplying most of what the other outlets left out.

The bail terms. The magistrate ordered two sureties of Rs. 1 million each and imposed a travel ban. Those are the same terms reported in June for the former National Lotteries Board chairperson arrested in the same investigation.

The charge. Karunanayake was charged with corruption under section 70 of the Bribery Act, as amended by Act No. 20 of 1994.

The court. Hiru names the judge as Colombo Additional Magistrate Liyan Varusha Withana — a third description of the bench, alongside the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court and the Colombo Magistrate’s Court used by other outlets.

The allegation, itemised. Investigators told the court that while Karunanayake was finance minister, from January 12, 2015 to May 22, 2017, he allegedly conspired with the then chairman of the National Lotteries Board to recruit three people on contract — two as coordinating officers and one as a management assistant — under the guise of a Ministry of Finance special project, paid from board funds, with no service rendered to the board in return.

That itemisation is the strongest evidence yet on the disputed headcount: Hiru’s three recruits are broken down by role, matching Ada Derana’s figure rather than the five reported by NewsFirst and the Daily Mirror. The discrepancy is still not acknowledged by any outlet.

The commission opposed bail. CIABOC asked the court to remand Karunanayake, telling it that he and the first suspect, a woman, had worked together to influence witnesses. It also said he had been notified four times to appear and had not done so, repeatedly requesting later dates.

The wedding account is disputed. When commission officers visited his residence on Saturday, Hiru reported, they were told he had gone to Nuwara Eliya for his daughter’s wedding — but investigations found he was in fact in Hambantota. No other outlet reported this.

The defence. President’s Counsel Asoka Weerasuriya sought bail on medical grounds, submitting that reports from a Singapore hospital dated August 26, 2026 showed his client has five stents and may need three more, and that he suffers from sleep apnea, has contracted cellulitis, and injects insulin for diabetes. Counsel argued there was no reason for his client to evade court given other pending cases, and noted the first suspect had already been granted bail.

Hiru spells the former board chairman’s name Shyamla Perera — a third rendering, against NewsFirst’s Shyamila and this archive’s earlier Sharmila. No outlet has cited the court record on the spelling, and Hiru describes the person as the “then chairman” while the earlier reporting refers to a chairperson who is a woman; the accounts agree the first suspect is female.

What remains unreported after Hiru’s account: the next court date, and whether Karunanayake or his lawyers have commented publicly on the allegations.

Sources