Sept 25, Colombo: The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court granted bail and ordered to release the former cricketer Sachithra Senanayake, who was in remand custody on match-fixing charges.

The Magistrate decided to release the cricketer on bail as it is not revealed that he has influenced the witnesses during the investigation period.

However, the Magistrate ordered the overseas travel ban imposed on him to continue to remain in effect.

Sachithra Senanayake was arrested on 06 September by the officials of the Sports Corruption Investigation Division, on suspicion of a match-fixing incident and was remanded in custody after being produced before the court.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has charged that the former Sri Lanka off-spinner made phone calls to two cricketers who participated in the first edition of the Lanka Premier League in 2020 to encourage them to ‘fix’ matches during the tournament.

The Attorney General’s Department last month instructed the Special Investigations Unit of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to file criminal charges against the former national team player for alleged match-fixing, as sufficient evidence has been gathered to support the charges.