Attorney General Directs CID to Name Namal as Main Suspect in Purchase of 10 Airbus Aircraft

14-Sep-2026

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The Attorney General has instructed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to name Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna National Organiser and Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa as a main suspect in an alleged incident involving the receipt of US$200,000 as a bribe from a European company in connection with the purchase of 10 Airbus aircraft by SriLankan Airlines.

Investigating officers have reportedly informed the authorities that money allegedly received as a bribe by former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena from a European company in 2013 had subsequently been given to Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa.

Accordingly, Additional Solicitor General and President's Counsel Dileepa Peiris, who is supervising the investigation into the alleged fraud, has advised that Namal Rajapaksa be named as a suspect.

The CID had earlier conducted a special investigation into the alleged fraud and named former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena and his wife, Priyanka Neomalie Wijenayake, as suspects in connection with the incident.

Kapila Chandrasena was arrested and questioned during the investigation and was subsequently released on bail. However, after the bail order was cancelled by the court, he was found dead at the residence of his brother-in-law and former cricketer Aravinda de Silva in the Kollupitiya area.

Meanwhile, Priyanka Neomalie Wijenayake, who has been named as a suspect in the case, has reportedly left the country and gone into hiding. The CID is taking steps to initiate further legal action against her.