Lanka police arrests Rajapaksa aide for misusing govt vehicles

Colombo: A Sri Lankan lawmaker and top aide of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was on Monday arrested by the police, following probe into allegations of misuse of government vehicles.

Sajin Vas Gunawardena, who was serving as Foreign Ministry Monitoring minister under Rajapaksa, was arrested following extensive grilling about his role in the misuse of vehicles belonging to the Presidential Secretariat.

The opposition parliamentarian was arrested after he was questioned by the CID over the allegations against him, police said.

Sajin was also the former CEO of the government sponsored budget airline -- Mihin Lanka -- and was widely criticised for the financial misfortunes of the airline.

Basil Rajapaksa, younger brother of former President and the economic development minister during his tenure, was also arrested by the country's anti-graft body last month.

Since Rajapaksa's defeat, several of his family members including himself have faced interrogation by the authorities for alleged misdeeds during his nearly decade-long rule.

President Maithripala Sirisena has promised to probe all allegations of corruption by the former regime after his victory in the general elections in January this year.

However, Rajapaksa loyalists had dubbed the action as a witch hunt by his successor Sirisena's administration.