Sri Lanka: Navy suspends Yoshitha

( March 1, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka Navy suspended Lieutenant Yoshitha Rajapaksa, the second son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa from exercise of Naval duties as directed by the Defence Ministry.

The Defence Ministry issued the directive on a request made by the Financial Crimes Division (FCID) of the Police.

FCID sources said that they made a request to the Defence Ministry to suspend Lieutenant Rajapaksa from Naval duties with the aim of conducting their investigations in a transparent and independent manner. Sri Lanka Naval authorities yesterday said that the service in the Sri Lanka Navy of Lieutenant Rajapaksa has been suspended with effect from February 28 to keep the ongoing FCID investigations independent, as currently charges are being framed in courts.

Lieutenant Rajapaksa will be deprived of his salary and allowances with immediate effect according to the 1982 Navy Pay Code, which was revised on January 13, 1998 by a Special Gazette Notification numbering 1010/1.

Rajapaksa will not be permitted entry into any Naval premises anymore without prior approval of Navy Headquarters, the authorities added.Rajapaksa and three others including Carlton Sports Network (CSN) Chairman Rohan Weliwita and former CEO Nishantha Ranatunga were arrested on January 30 by the FCID and remanded by the Kaduwela magistrate over the financial irregularities at CSN.