The United National Party (UNP) has raised concerns over expenses related to the investigation into former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s UK visit, claiming that former official Aruna Fernando was paid £650 to provide evidence in the case recently.
Issuing a statement, the UNP said Aruna Fernando, who served as Chief Administrative Officer at the Sri Lanka High Commission in London during the tenure of High Commissioner Saroja Sirisena, had later left the post without proper notification.
According to the UNP, Aruna Fernando appeared from Blackpool City before a team of Sri Lankan Police officers, when they visited London to collect evidence regarding the case.
The UNP further alleged that expenses for Wickremesinghe’s visit were arranged by Aruna Fernando, with direct support from Sky Wing Company owned by his associate, Saayi Mukundan.
In addition, the UNP said the government has spent a significant sum to send five Police officers to London for evidence gathering.
Despite inquiries made under the Right to Information Act five months ago, no response has yet been provided regarding these costs, the UNP statement said. (Newswire)