• Investigation officers to record a statement of the suspect within the prison premises on September 19  

By T. Farook Thajudeen  

Colombo Chief Magistrate Prasanna Alwis yesterday further remanded Sachithra Senanayake until September 25 allegedly for match-fixing during the 2020 Lanka Premier League (LPL) Cricket Tournament. 

The Magistrate remanded him after considering the submissions of Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Dileepa Pieris who submitted in court that the suspect had misinformed the investigators by providing false information. The DSG said on the last inquiry date, the suspect had undertaken to provide veracity about a person through whom he had sent a bottle of Whiskey to Tharindu Ratnayake.  

However, the investigators had contacted the person whose information had been provided by Sachithra to the CID and found it to be spurious. Therefore, the DSG objected to granting bail to the suspect as he may further interfere with the investigations if released on bail.   

Counsel Kalinga Indatissa PC appearing on behalf of the suspect Sachithra Senanayake pleaded to grant bail to the suspect under whatever conditions and assured that the suspect will not interfere with the witnesses or the investigations.  
Magistrate Alwis remanded Sachithra Senanayake until September 25 and ordered the Prison authorities to provide facilities to the investigation officers to record a statement of the suspect within the prison premises on September 19.  

Sachithra Senanayake was taken into CID custody on charges of match-fixing after he surrendered to the Special Investigation Unit of the Sports Ministry.  

It is alleged that Senanayake had been involved in match-fixing during the 2020 edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) Cricket Tournament. It was revealed that he made contact with two cricketers via telephone from Dubai in an attempt to manipulate the outcomes of matches.  

Sachithra Senanayake, had vehemently denied all the accusations, asserting that they were baseless and intended to tarnish his and his family’s reputation.