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Rs. 645m tsunami scandal: Top RADA official arrested
View(s):Police yesterday arrested the former operations manager of the Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA), which is alleged to have paid Rs. 645 million to two bogus companies to build houses for tsunami victims in the north and east.
Saliya Wickremasuriya was arrested by the Police Special Investigations Unit (SIU) at his residence in Kollupitiya last morning, a senior police officer said. He was later remanded till May 12.Earlier, police recorded a statement from parliamentarian and businessman Tiran Alles, who headed the RADA, and arrested two others.
RADA was founded on a directive from the Presidential Secretariat in 2006 to build houses for the tsunami victims of the North-East. Police said in an earlier statement that the Treasury had released money to RADA through the President’s office, but not a single house had been built.