Colombo: President Maithripala Sirisena has paid attention to the arrests of a senior official of the Presidential Secretariat and a Chairman of a State Corporation on a bribery allegation, President's Media Division said in a statement.
The President has ordered the authorities to suspend the services of the officers involved in this incident and advised the relevant authorities to strictly enforce the law without any influence.
"This confirms the implementing of the Government's permanent policy against bribery and corruption and the importance of establishing independent commissions," the PMD statement said.
The President has emphasized that he is pleased with the independent and impartial background created by the present government for the law enforcement authorities to fulfill their duty.
The Bribery Commission has arrested the President�s Chief of Staff Dr I.H.K. Mahanama and the Chairman of the Timber Corporation P. Dissanayake while accepting a bribe of Rs 20 million.
According to reports, they were taken into custody by officers of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption while soliciting the bribe at a prominent luxury hotel in Colombo.
They had allegedly requested a bribe of Rs 100 million from an individual with regards to a deal on the shares of a company and had accepted part of it, Rs 20 million, as an initial payment, local media reported.
Dr I. H.K. Mahanama is the former Secretary to the Ministry of Lands who was recently appointed to the influential position of the President�s Chief of Staff.
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