Four granted bail in Kapila Chandrasena's murder case

Four persons accused of aiding and abetting the murder of former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena, were granted bail by Colombo Additional Magistrate Lahiru Silva today.

The bailed out persons included two individuals who accepted money to act as sureties for former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena during the corruption case that was ongoing in front of the court.

The Magistrate ordered two personal bails of Rs. 500,000 for each suspect and imposed a travel ban.

The Magistrate directed to produce Grama Niladhari certificates to the court confirming the residence of the individuals standing bail, and ordered verification of whether the sureties possess sufficient assets.

The court issued this order following submissions made by Keselwatta Police Crimes Division OIC Inspector K.W.D. Anuruddha, who presented a further report when the case was called.

The suspects released on bail are Mohamed Rizwan, Mohamed Irshan, B.A. Tissa, and Perumal Ganesh, residing at Sanchi Arachchivatta near the Hulftsdorp court complex.

The court previously remanded these individuals till today who allegedly coordinated and mediated in matters related to the murder of former SriLankan Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena.

Keselwatta Police informed the court that investigations revealed the first and second suspects obtained 17 Grama Sevaka certificates between January and May 2026 in connection with this incident.

Keselwatta Police Crimes Division OIC Inspector K.W.D. Anuruddha made the following submissions to court:

"Your Honour, these suspects signed for bail on May 5. This relates to a case pending at the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court.

By now, the suspect in that case passed away.

Statements were recorded from the Grama Niladhari of the Keselwatta division, S. Nilantha Silva, regarding this matter.

According to his statements, the first and second suspects were lawfully residents of the Keselwatta area from 2019 to 2025.

These two individuals obtained 17 Grama Niladhari certificates from January until the fifth month of 2026.

The first suspect obtained 10 Grama Sevaka certificates and the second suspect obtained 7 certificates.

An investigation is being conducted regarding this.

A statement was recorded from the relevant Grama Sevaka officer regarding the matter.

Furthermore, analysis reports obtained regarding the mobile phone records of the Grama Sevaka officer were presented to court today.

We are investigating further into this.

The third suspect in this case, a person named Tissa, continuously operated from the Court premises to provide bail for others. He also directly aided and abetted this incident.

Your Honour, a confidential statement was recorded from another party regarding this incident. Investigations are being conducted based on that statement as well.

It was also revealed that the fourth suspect, a person named Ganesh, only came to know the first and second suspects after arriving at the court premises to provide bail.

The fourth suspect, Ganesh, made the necessary arrangements to obtain bail.

The first, second, and third suspects know no information regarding the person who was to receive bail in this incident.

It is also revealed that they have no relationship whatsoever.

Your Honour, by now, the person who obtained bail passed away. We are investigating whether this factor also contributed to that demise.

Investigations regarding that death are still underway.

Since their release on bail could cause an obstruction to the investigations, we request court to remand the suspects until the investigations conclude."

Attorney-at-law Sanjaya Gamage, appearing for the suspects, informed the Court that his clients were remanded without specifying exact offences against them.

The Magistrate, having considered the submissions, ordered the release of the suspects on bail and scheduled the case to be called again on June 25.