Key files missing from Yahapalana-era anti-corruption committee, PM tells Parliament

Colombo, June 6 (Daily Mirror) - Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya informed Parliament today that several files from the Anti-Corruption Committee Office, which operated under the Prime Minister’s Office during the Yahapalana government’s era , have gone missing.

Responding to a question raised by MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake, the Prime Minister said that key documents—including complaint records and files related to an accident involving a member of the committee—are unaccounted for.

“We are unaware of what happened to the files. We don’t know whether former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe removed them when he assumed the presidency in 2022,” the Prime Minister told Parliament.

She said that the Anti-Corruption Committee was established in 2015 with cabinet approval. Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was Prime Minister at the time, served as its chairperson. Current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was also a member of the committee, alongside Minister Ananda Wijepala.

Other notable members included Mangala Samaraweera, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, R. Sampanthan, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, M. A. Sumanthiran, J. C. Weliamuna, Jayampathi Wickramaratne, and Malik Samarawickrama.

“It is common knowledge that President Dissanayake was a member of the committee, as he has publicly spoken about it on several occasions,” the Prime Minister added.