Sri Lankan Police are looking for Basil Rajapaksa, the brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, for questioning in a corruption probe.
Basil Rajapaksa is wanted in a probe about a fund under the Ministry of Economic Development, Assistant Superintendent of Police Ruwan Gunasekera said.
Basil Rajapaksa was the key advisor to Mahinda Rajapaksa during his nine-year rule. After Mahinda Rajapaksa’s defeat in the January 8 election by current president Maithripala Sirisena, a number of anti- graft cases were registered against him and his family members.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s younger brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is also facing a probe for allegedly running “death squads” and ordering the murder of a high-profile newspaper editor, Lasantha Wickrematunga.
Basil Rajapaksa, along with his wife, had departed for U.S. immediately after the polls. Last week, the government alleged that he was no longer in the U.S. and was now residing in Vietnam. He is looking for a country with which does not have an extradition treaty with Sri Lanka, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ajith Perera said.
The government has stated that they will seek Interpol assistance to probe the former Minister on corruption charges.
