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.
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. 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.
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. Other members of the family have also faced legal troubles.
