-By A LeN investigative Journalist
(Lanka-e-News - 12.Sep.2025, 10.40 PM) For years, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has insisted that he owns no residence in Colombo. He repeated the claim so often that it began to sound like fact. But newly uncovered documents and testimony suggest the opposite: Rajapaksa and his wife Shiranthi do indeed have the use of a luxury mansion in the capital—valued at nearly Rs. 400 million.
The house in question was originally owned by businessman Prabath Ravindra Nanayakkara, head of CMC Enterprises and a close ally of then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Sources confirm that Nanayakkara made the property, located at 260/12 Torrington Avenue, Colombo 5, available to Rajapaksa when he became Leader of the Opposition in 2001.
Rajapaksa had requested accommodation from Wickremesinghe, who in turn persuaded his wealthy friend to lend the house “temporarily” until the state could allocate an official residence. Nanayakkara agreed. What was intended as a short-term arrangement soon became something far more permanent.
When Wickremesinghe’s government collapsed in 2004, Rajapaksa held on to the mansion. In the following year, he rose to the presidency, yet still declined repeated requests from Nanayakkara to vacate. Rajapaksa is said to have declared the house “lucky”, arguing that he had climbed from opposition leader to president while living there, and thus would not return it.
By 2013, the arrangement was formalised under questionable circumstances. Using presidential clout, Rajapaksa is alleged to have pressured Nanayakkara into signing over the deed. The property was transferred not in Mahinda’s name but in that of his wife, Shiranthi Rajapaksa—known in some legal documents by her lesser-known baptismal name, Mary Lourdus Wickremesinghe. The stated value was Rs. 400 million.
Official paperwork suggested that Rs. 35 million from the Carlton account was used for the purchase. Yet, according to records, Nanayakkara never received a cent. Critics argue the transaction was nothing more than a forcible takeover.
This would not be the first such case. The Carlton House in Tangalle, long associated with the Rajapaksa family, is also said to have been acquired in similarly murky fashion.
Despite these realities, Rajapaksa and his loyalists continued to insist—both during and after his presidency—that he held no residence in Colombo. Such claims were false. The very same Torrington Avenue address was later used to register the Carlton Sports Network (CSN), the family’s controversial media venture launched by his son Yoshitha Rajapaksa in 2011.
The mansion also featured in a multimillion-rupee loan deal. Former MP Sajin Vass Gunawardena and Nishantha Ranatunga, brother of cricketing legend Arjuna, secured Rs. 500 million from Orix Leasing Finance using the property’s address.
Taken together, these threads expose a pattern: the Rajapaksa family not only had a Colombo residence but embedded it in their political and business ventures. Their repeated denials now ring hollow.
The episode illustrates something deeper about Sri Lankan politics. For all his populist charm, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s willingness to mislead the public—proclaiming homelessness in Colombo while ensconced in a multimillion-rupee mansion—speaks volumes about his style of leadership.
The uncomfortable question remains: when will his still-devoted supporters, who march behind him chanting slogans of loyalty, finally accept the truth?
(said Torrington Av, residence area and Transaction evidence are in images)
-By A LeN investigative Journalist
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by (2025-09-12 17:14:47)
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