Court issues warrant for Mahendran’s arrest

• Warrant issued after former CB Governor for the second time fails to appear before CID to give statement 
• Court further remands Aloysius and Palisena 

The Colombo Fort Magistrate yesterday issued a warrant for the arrest of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, a key suspect in the Central Bank bond scam, and further remanded the other two suspects in the case.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne ordered a warrant be issued since Mahendran, who is currently out of the country, has for the second time failed to appear before the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to provide a statement.

The magistrate gave this order following a request made by the CID to issue a warrant for the suspect’s arrest. 

At the previous hearing the court ordered Mahendran to appear before the CID on 8 March to give a statement.

An officer of the CID said that the information had been passed on to Mahendran through a courier service, email and mobile phone message.

At the request of the CID, telecom companies were ordered to issue information on several telephone numbers.

Meanwhile, the Colombo Fort Magistrate further remanded the other two suspects in the case, the former Director of Perpetual Treasuries Arjun Aloysius and CEO Kasun Palisena, until 29 March. (Colombopage)