Shiranthi's beauty therapist was also given a Sirisanda house for free.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption yesterday (19) presented facts before Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama regarding the allocation of twenty-two houses from the Sirisanda Housing Project, built for low-income families in Colombo, to a group of political associates.

It was revealed that these houses were allocated based on requests made by former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, former Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and a former Attorney General. The National Housing Development Authority had implemented this project targeting estate dwellers and impoverished people in Bloemendhal, Colombo.

In connection with this incident, retired Brigadier Ranjith Samarasinghe, who served as the Director of Urban Development Renewable Programs for the Sirisanda Housing Project, was arrested and produced before the court on charges of causing loss to the government and providing undue profit to another party. Although 366 houses in this complex, built in 2014 at a cost of over thirty-nine crore rupees, were intended for the poor, the Bribery Commission pointed out that 22 of these houses were illegally distributed among associates. It was further stated in court that while usually, eligibility for these houses required five years of residency in the relevant estates and verification of water and electricity bills, the twenty-two individuals concerned were allocated houses without any such qualifications.

The Bribery Commission also submitted a list of the beneficiaries of these houses to the court, which included the former First Lady's beautician and therapist, a private secretary to the former President, two domestic workers who served at the President's House, a clerk, and a laborer. Additionally, a Navy Lieutenant, a former newspaper editor, an employee at the General Manager of Railways' residence, a District Coordinator at the Presidential Secretariat, an office assistant at the Presidential Secretariat, a domestic worker at a former Attorney General's residence, and a domestic worker who served at an embassy in Singapore were also among those who received these houses. Answering a question from the Magistrate, the Bribery Commission stated that no one was residing in four of these houses, some houses had been rented out, and the woman in Singapore had obtained a house without even returning to the country.

The lawyer appearing for the suspect stated that if these houses were allocated during an election period at the request of the said VIPs, the National Housing Development Authority had the power to cancel such allocations. The lawyer pointed out that the Bribery Commission's actions in this manner were impractical, and his client, a retired officer, had acted under the approval of the Board of Directors. In response, the Bribery Commission stated that the suspect director had completely misled the Board of Directors by falsely recording the addresses of the beneficiaries as being from the Bloemendhal area. The Chief Magistrate then informed the lawyer to present facts related to the trial later and to focus only on the bail application at this stage.

Considering the facts presented by both parties, the Colombo Chief Magistrate decided to grant bail to the suspect, taking into account his status as a retired officer and the potential for him to influence investigations. Accordingly, the court ordered the suspect's release on two personal bail bonds of ten lakh rupees each and imposed a travel ban on him. The Magistrate strictly warned the suspect not to influence witnesses or investigations in any way and further ordered the Bribery Commission to report the progress of the relevant investigations to the court on June 16.