Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasinghe today (Oct. 14) ordered the Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) Illegal Assets Investigation Unit to arrest former Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa and produce him before the court.

The order was issued in connection with the alleged misappropriation of funds belonging to the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.Following submissions made by the CID in this regard, the Magistrate also directed the relevant authorities to take the necessary steps to obtain Red Notices through Interpol.The CID’s Illegal Assets Investigation Unit had reported to the court that Rs. 7.8 million allocated to the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau in 2014 had allegedly not been used for the bureau’s promotional activities. Instead, the funds were allegedly used to provide 12,000 T-shirts for the Uva Provincial Council election, resulting in a financial loss to the government.