Bond scam suspects granted bail after serving indictments

Eight suspects involved in the Central Bank bond scam case have been granted bail after indictments were handed over to them at the Special High Court today (Jul 19).

The case was taken up before a three-member judge bench of Justices Sampath Abeykoon, Sampath Jayaratne, and Champa Janaki Rajaratne this morning.

Each of the suspects were released on a cash bail of Rs 1 million each and two surety bails each worth Rs 2.5 million. The judge bench imposed a travel ban on the suspects and ordered them to hand over their passports to court.

However, former central bank governor Arjuna Mahendran, the chief suspect in the case, and the tenth suspect Ajahn Punchihewa were not present in court to receive summons. They were not represented by lawyers as well.

Meanwhile, Appeal Court President Sampath Abeykoon instructed the documents against the chief suspect to be handed over to the registrar since it was too large in volume to be handed over in open court.

Additional Solicitor General Priyantha Nawana appearing for the prosecution informed court that an INTERPOL warrant has been issued for the arrest of the chief suspect who is evading arrest in Singapore.

However, he requested court to issue summons on the tenth suspect who is also believed to be evading arrest in Singapore. The judge bench announced that a ruling over this matter would be issued on July 24.

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