Sri Lanka’s main anti-graft body arrested lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa, the son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Friday (September 4, 2026) in connection with a corruption probe into a 2013 Airbus aircraft purchase.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) said the 40-year-old scion of the once-powerful Rajapaksa family “was summoned for questioning over the Airbus transaction”.
CIABOC had questioned the former President himself in May over allegations that he had received kickbacks from the aircraft purchase. He later retracted the statement, claiming it had been made under pressure. His lawyer, Nishantha Dayananda, confirmed the arrest over the controversial $2.3-billion deal, which was eventually cancelled by a new government in 2016. The payments were linked to the purchase of 10 Airbus aircraft, which required cabinet approval during Rajapaksa’s presidency from 2005 to 2015. Chandrasena initially told investigators he had paid Rajapaksa 60 million rupees ($461,000 at the time) in three instalments in 2013, according to submissions made in court.
“The MP was arrested afterwards and will be taken before a magistrate,” a commission official said.
