PM’s visit to Tirupathi: CIABOC initiates inquiry

Journalist Tharindu Uduwegedara yesterday (08) said that the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) had informed him that an inquiry had got underway into his complaint against Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa flying to Tirupathi, with some members of his family, in a private jet, Embraer Legacy 600.

Uduwegedara said that CIABOC Secretary Apsara Caldera, in a letter dated February 2, 2022, had notified him of the Commission decision to launch an investigation into the complaint. According to the scribe the CIABOC responded to his complaint, lodged online on Dec 31 last year.

On December 23, 2021, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa left for Tirupathi, India, on a two-day personal visit, aboard a private jet.

The Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Yoshitha Rajapaksa, said that a friend of the Prime Minister gave him that aircraft, free of charge, for his trip to Tirupathi. However, his Media spokesperson, Rohan Weliwita, said that their own funds were spent on hiring the jet, whereas an SLPP lawmaker Milan Jayatilleke said that an influential Indian businessman sent his private jet for Premier Rajapaksa’s use (SF)