COLOMBO (News1st): Former minister Rajitha Senaratne has been remanded until May 27 over a controversial media briefing organized days ahead of last year’s presidential election in November.

Senaratne had surrendered to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday, hours after the Colombo High Court repealed a court ruling that granted him bail in connection to the case.

He was produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s court in the evening.

The one-time health minister will be remanded at the Pallansena Prison in Negombo, around 38 kilometres from capital Colombo, according to the prisons department.

State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne, the co-ordinating officer to the Attorney General, told News 1st, that an application had been filed at the high court regarding the case on Wednesday.

Senaratne is accused of fabricating information on “white van” abductions — alleged to have been carried out by the government before 2015 — during the media briefing, attended by two men who claimed to have links to the crimes.

He had been released by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on December 30 last year. The two men who had attended the controversial media briefing were also granted bail.

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