Sri Lankan former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, left, waves as he walks with his wife Shiranthi Rajapaksa.
| Photo Credit: AP
Sri Lanka’s anti-graft authority arrested former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa on Wednesday (October 7, 2026) over allegations that her charity misused donations collected for a children’s hospital.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government has revived long-dormant graft investigations involving members of the once-powerful Rajapaksa family, which dominated Sri Lankan politics for nearly two decades.
The 73-year-old wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was arrested in Colombo, and will be taken before a magistrate, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) said.
“The arrest is in connection with her Siriliya Saviya Foundation,” a CIABOC official told reporters at the Rajapaksa home in the capital.
She travelled to Singapore on September 16 for medical treatment, and was served with a summons at Colombo airport to provide a statement to police about her charity.
She flew back on Monday (October 5) after filing a court petition seeking to prevent her arrest, but the hearing for anticipatory bail was fixed for October 12.
Police said the authorities wanted to question Shiranthi over the 10 million rupees ($30,300) of donations collected by her Siriliya Saviya charity for a PET scanner intended for a local cancer hospital.
Investigators told a court that the scanner had already been donated by the Chinese government, but the charity allegedly continued to solicit donations and misused the funds.
Ms. Shiranthi has denied any wrongdoing, saying the money had not been misappropriated.
Other members of the family have also faced legal troubles.
The former First Lady’s eldest son, opposition lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa, is in remand custody over allegations linked to a 2013 Airbus aircraft deal signed during his father’s presidency.
The Rajapaksa family has consistently denied the corruption allegations and dismissed the cases against them as politically motivated.
Mahinda Rajapaksa served as President from 2005 to 2015 and remains one of Sri Lanka’s most influential political figures, despite the decline in the family’s fortunes since mass protests ousted his brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, from the presidency in 2022.
Published – October 07, 2026 12:21 pm IST
