Rajapaksa’s brother held in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan police on Thursday arrested former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s younger brother Basil in connection with an alleged land transaction involving money laundering, police said.

Basil, a former economic development minister during his brother’s 10-year rule, was produced before a court in the southern town of Matara which granted him conditional bail after impounding his passport.

He is currently on bail in another case of alleged misappropriation of state funds after serving several months in prison and the court hearing is still taking place.

The Rajapaksa family has faced many charges of financial and public property irregularities since his defeat to the incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena in January last year.