{"id":40806,"date":"2015-04-21T18:01:43","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T22:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=40806"},"modified":"2015-04-21T18:01:43","modified_gmt":"2015-04-21T22:01:43","slug":"arrivals-lounge-closed-as-over-3000-gather-at-airport-to-welcome-basil-rajapaksa-returning-from-the-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=40806","title":{"rendered":"Arrivals Lounge Closed as over 3000 Gather at Airport to Welcome Basil Rajapaksa Returning from the USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shamindra Ferdinando<\/strong><\/p>\n

Former Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa, MP, will appear before the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) today (April 22).<\/p>\n

Immediately after having returned from the US, Gampaha District MP Rajapaksa declared his readiness to face the on-going investigation. The former SLFP National Organiser returned from the US in the wake of FCID seeking to record a statement from him regarding his alleged involvement in misappropriation of Divineguma and Samurdhi funds and the utilisation of public funds for his brother’s presidential election campaign.<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa’s successor, Sajith Premadasa, has repeatedly accused President Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s sibling of having misappropriated public funds. Minister Premadasa claimed that on his invitation two internationally renowned auditing firms, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers had launched probes into Housing and Samurdhi portfolios previously held by National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa and former SLFP National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa, respectively.<\/p>\n

MP Rajapaksa arrived from London via Dubai. Rajapaksa and his wife, Pushpa left for the US soon after Maithripala Sirisena was sworn in as the President.<\/p>\n

Basil Rajapaksa led the last presidential polls campaign in his capacity as the SLFP’s National Organiser.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At the behest of the government, BIA management closed the arrival lounge to prevent UPFA supporters from entering the premises. Over 3,000 UPFA supporters gathered outside the airport. Among those who had been among the crowd were UPFA Parliamentarians Ruwan Ranatunga, M.L.A.M. Hisbullah, Duleep Wijesekera, and Arundika Fernando, former Eastern Province Chief Minister S. Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan, Western Provincial Councillor Nimal Lanza and a majority of local government members representing the Gampaha District.<\/p>\n

Addressing the gathering Rajapaksa alleged that the national economy had suffered a debilitating setback since the change of government consequent to the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s defeat at the Jan.8 election.<\/p>\n

He called for re-building of the country under Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership. The former minister said that he would assist the on-going investigation launched by the police. Dismissing allegations against former President and the family, Basil Rajapaksa declared that the Rajapaksas never robbed public funds.<\/p>\n

Basil Rajapaksa’s vehicle convoy took the airport-Colombo Expressway though some of his supporters suggested that he should take the normal route.<\/p>\n

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara yesterday told The Island that there had never been a plan to arrest the former Minister at the BIA, though a section of the media on the basis of a recent court ruling given by the Kaduwela Magistrate speculated about his arrest. The FCID would question and record a statement from MP Rajapaksa, the police spokesman said, adding that the Samurdhi case was among several other high profile investigations handled by the newly appointed unit.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Island<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shamindra Ferdinando Former Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa, MP, will appear before the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) today (April 22). Immediately after having returned from the US, Gampaha District MP Rajapaksa declared his readiness to face the on-going investigation. The former SLFP National Organiser returned from the US in the wake of FCID …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Arrivals Lounge Closed as over 3000 Gather at Airport to Welcome Basil Rajapaksa Returning from the USA’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40806"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40806"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40807,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40806\/revisions\/40807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}