Senior officials arrested on bribery charges, remanded

Colombo (News1st) - The Chief of Staff of the President's office Dr. I. K. Mahanama and the Chairman of the State Timber corporation Piyasena Dissanayake who were arrested last evening (May 3rd) on bribery charges have been remanded till the 9th of this month after being produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Ranasinghe. President Maithripala Sirisena has called for the immediate suspension of the two suspects and has called on all authorities to implement the law against these individuals without fear of any obstructions. The duo has allegedly demanded a 560 million rupee bribe which had been negotiated down to 100 million. The suspects were arrested in Colombo while allegedly accepting a 20 million rupees of the bribe.