Nov 25, Colombo: Former Minister of Industry and Commerce and Wanni district parliamentarian Rishad Bathiudeen who was in remand custody in connection with misuse of state property was granted bail today.

When the case was taken up before Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court today Colombo Fort Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage (25) ordered that MP Rishad Bathiudeen be released under strict bail conditions on a cash bail of Rs. 100,000 and two personal sureties of Rs. 1 million each, which should be close relatives of the defendant.

The magistrate further imposed an overseas travel ban on MP Bathiudeen and gave orders to inform the Controller-General of Immigration and Emigration in this regard. He also ordered the parliamentarian to hand over his passport to the custody of the court.

The magistrate also ordered the MP to appear before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on a later date informed by the CID.

Former Minister of Industry and Commerce Bathiudeen, project director Mohamed Yaseen Samsudeen and the project accountant Alagarathnam Manoranjan are accused of violating Presidential Elections Act by misappropriating public funds to the tune of 9.5 million rupees.

They have allegedly misused 222 SLTB buses for transporting Internally Displaced Persons from Puttalam to polling stations in Silawathurai, Mannar during the 2019 Presidential Election.

The Magistrate granted bail to Bathiudeen considering that the MP is at risk of contracting COVID-19 at the Magazine Prison where he was remanded. The other two suspects were remanded further till December 09.