Sri Lankan authorities arrested former navy chief Fleet Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda on Friday on corruption charges for allegedly helping former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son secure a navy appointment and overseas training without proper qualifications.
The 73-year-old Karannagoda was taken into custody by the Bribery and Corruption Commission. He is accused of illegally facilitating the 2006 recruitment of Yoshitha Rajapaksa into the navy without meeting the required qualifications.
Karannagoda served as navy chief during the end of Sri Lanka’s decades-long war against Tamil separatists in 2009 and was promoted to fleet admiral in 2019. He currently holds no active role in the navy.
Yoshitha Rajapaksa, 38, was arrested in a related case last month and released on bail. He is accused of using government funds for training at Britain’s prestigious Dartmouth Naval College.
The Bribery Commission said in a statement: “The fleet admiral committed the offense of corruption in the recruitment and training of Yoshitha Rajapaksa.”
Karannagoda also faces war crimes allegations. Britain imposed sanctions on him in March 2025 over serious human rights violations and extrajudicial killings. He is also charged with conspiracy to murder 11 young men between 2008 and 2009. Those charges were withdrawn in October 2021 when Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother Gotabaya was president, but were revived under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who took office in September 2024 pledging to tackle corruption and unresolved crimes.
Yoshitha Rajapaksa also faces a separate criminal case for failing to explain the source of funds used to purchase a house during his father’s presidency from 2005 to 2015.
Last month, a travel ban was imposed on his uncle Gotabaya Rajapaksa over alleged connections to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report