By Ruwan Weerakoon
(Lanka-e-News -16 Oct 2026,11.00 P.M.) Captain Nuwan Tushara Arandara, who served in the Sri Lanka Navy's Pay and Allowances Branch, told the Colombo High Court today (Oct. 15) that Yoshitha Rajapaksa received Rs. 5,159,626 in salary during nearly 10 years of service in the Navy.
The witness gave this evidence when the case filed by the Attorney General against Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was taken up. Rajapaksa is accused of committing an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by purchasing five plots of land in Dehiwala and Rathmalana with over Rs. 7.3 million in illegally earned money.
The trial is being heard before Colombo High Court Judge Udesh Ranatunga.
Led by Senior State Counsel Oswald Perera for the prosecution, Navy Captain Nuwan Tushara Arandara testified:
"My Lord, in 2009 I served in the Navy's Pay and Allowances Branch. During that time, salary and allowance payments were made to Lieutenant Yoshitha Rajapaksa.
"I submit the relevant documents to the court. The letter contains details of payments made from December 14, 2006 to February 2016.
"The document states the date as February 30, 2016. My Lord, that must be corrected. There is no February 30. It should be corrected to February 28, 2016.
"Accordingly, My Lord, the Navy paid the officer Yoshitha Rajapaksa approximately Rs. 5,159,626 as salary between February 14, 2006 and February 2016."
In cross-examination, defence counsel President's Counsel Sampath Mendis asked whether the salary received by Yoshitha Rajapaksa included allowances.
The witness replied, "Allowances are not included, My Lord."
The President's Counsel then asked what kinds of payments fall under allowances.
The witness replied:
"My Lord, allowances include things like house rent, special duty allowances and uniform allowances. Allowances given for courses are not included. Allowances given to officers for participating in sports competitions are also not included."
In response to further questions from the defence, the witness said he knew Yoshitha Rajapaksa had attended a foreign course, but he did not know whether he had taken part in rugby tournaments in several countries.
Next, Navy Commodore Gamini Priyadarshana gave evidence for the prosecution:
"It was stated that £20,362 had been approved for a foreign course attended by Yoshitha Rajapaksa, and a further £4,174 as allowances.
"The former Navy Commander, Wasantha Karannagoda, had made the request. It had been submitted to the Secretary of the Ministry of Defence."
Next, Gamini Hettiarachchi, a junior executive officer at the head office of the National Savings Bank, testified:
"The defendant Yoshitha Rajapaksa opened a fixed deposit account on November 19, 2003, with an opening balance of Rs. 72,470.03.
"With interest, that amount has now grown to Rs. 489,471.70. There is no record of any withdrawal from that account up to February 15, 2016."
At that point, President's Counsel Sampath Mendis, appearing for Yoshitha Rajapaksa, objected:
"My Lord, the prosecution is trying to establish these facts by presenting a document obtained on October 12 last. That document is not listed in the indictment. It is being submitted after the investigations were concluded and the indictment filed."
He said he was registering his objection.
The witness further testified that Yoshitha Rajapaksa opened an ordinary savings account at the bank on December 30, 2006. He said that account too showed only deposits, and that the first withdrawal was recorded on March 2, 2016.
Answering a question from defence counsel, the witness accepted that Rs. 1,350,116 had been credited to this savings account on November 28, 2011.
Next, Senarath Bandara Ekanayake, a clerk acting for the Registrar of the Nugegoda District Court, testified under the guidance of Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara. He accepted that, based on a medical report stating that a woman named Daisy Forrest was suffering from dementia, the judge had issued an order on March 15, 2017, appointing a manager to administer her property.
After examining the relevant case file, the witness also said that no document containing details of Daisy Forrest's property, or of the property in her estate, had been submitted to court in the case in which that order was issued.
Next, businessman Mervyn Amaraweera testified for the prosecution. He said he deals in buying land and currently owns about six plots purchased in this manner, located in areas such as Kotte, Mirigama, Wellawaya and Thalawathugoda.
Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara asked, "Did you clear a bus imported for the CSN institution from Customs?"
The witness replied, "I did clear it, My Lord... but I don't know what it was."
The Deputy Solicitor General asked again:
"What you cleared was a bus worth several crores of rupees, capable of live broadcasting. It was not an ordinary Tata bus or Ashok Leyland bus.
"When clearing something like this, isn't it your responsibility to find out what is inside it? Who asked you to clear it?"
The witness replied:
"My Lord, I received a request through a friend to clear it. I cleared it accordingly. I did not check what was inside it."
The Deputy Solicitor General asked again, "Who asked you to clear this bus?"
The witness replied:
"My Lord, I can't remember exactly right now. I have given a statement to the police about it. If you give me about five minutes, I can recall it."
The judge adjourned the hearing for a few minutes. When the witness was recalled, he told the court that it was a person named Rohan Welivita who had asked him to clear the bus from Customs.
The witness also said that although he addresses Rohan Welivita as "Rohan Uncle," he does not know what he does. He further said he had no connection with the CSN institution.
The court then ordered further hearing of evidence be adjourned until October 30.
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by (2026-10-16 17:24:03)
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