Sources say that the President has summoned a report regarding a Colombo District Parliamentarian and a State Minister who had brought the notorious ethanol smuggler Jayalath Krishan Peiris alias Ethanol Jayalath from Dubai to Sri Lanka and produced him in court and released him on bail. The court had issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with a foreign liquor racket.
In 2020, an investigation was launched against Ethanol Jayalath for tax evasion by filling and re-exporting colored water to world-famous branded liquor bottles, and he had fled the country, evading police and the courts.
The fugitive Ethanol Jayalath has been brought back to SLPP MP Madura Vithanage who visited the Expo exhibition in Dubai recently and has been admitted through the VIP terminal at the Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport. He was taken care of by State Minister of Kitul, Coconut, and Palmyra Arundika Fernando at the other end, and referred to the CID, produced him in court, and released him on bail.
However, following the media coverage of the incident, President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had ordered Major General G.A. Chandrasiri, Chairman of the Airport and Aviation Company, to submit a full report on the incident.
According to sources, the President has received a report with CCTV footage of the airport and will soon take a tough decision regarding Madura Vithanage and Arundika Fernando.
