President's former Chief of staff and STC Chairman further remanded

COLOMBO (News 1^st) - President's former chief of staff I.H.K Mahanama and the former Chairman of the State Timber Corporation (STC) Piyasena Dissanayake who was arrested for soliciting a bribe of 20 million, have been further remanded until the 22^nd of this month. The order was issued when the suspects were produced before Colombo Fort additional magistrate Saman Sri Ragala. The lawyers representing the 1^st defendant I H K Mahanama said, their client is suffering from a serious heart condition as well as Asthma. A request was made that the defendant is remanded only for a week. Objecting the request, the bribery commission said that if bail was granted to the defendant it could hamper the investigations. Taking these points into consideration the magistrate ordered that the suspects be remanded until the 22^nd. The bribery commission meanwhile informed the court that they have commenced an investigation into an incident where a person by the name of Joseph Pillai who is allegedly an intelligence officer of the LTTE met with the Managing Director of the Indian Company that lodged this particular case and asked for the details of the case. The assistant director general of the bribery commission, Asitha Anthony said that necessary steps to lodge a complaint with the Cinnamon Garden Police have been taken. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS0G46nYSRU