Sri Lanka, Aug. 6 -- Former Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam was remanded in custody until August 18 by the Colombo Chief Magistrate yesterday (5) after being arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over corruption charges.

According to CIABOC, the arrest is linked to allegations that, while serving as Senior Presidential Advisor (Decentralised Administration), Kariyawasam caused a financial loss to the state by recruiting four individuals to the Office of the Senior Presidential Advisor and assigning them to attend to his private commercial interests while they continued to receive government-funded salaries and allowances.

It has been alleged that three of the employees were deployed to ...