Officials went to Ravi's house because he continuously avoided the Bribery Commission.

A team of officers from the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has gone to the house of former Minister Ravi Karunanayake to arrest him, due to his continuous evasion of appearing before the commission. Although several summons were issued for investigations, he did not appear on the scheduled dates. It has been revealed that he had gone to the Nuwara Eliya area even when the officers visited his house.

In relation to these investigations, he was informed to appear to give statements on July 16 and 17, as well as on July 30 and 31. However, the former minister had informed the commission in writing that he could not appear due to his daughter's wedding arrangements. Later, although he was again informed to appear on August 28, he evaded appearing on that day too, stating that lawyers were unavailable. Because he also disregarded the order to appear on the following day, August 29, officers have thus gone to his house.

The reason for this urgent investigation is an inquiry being conducted in relation to a complaint received in November 2025. Accusations have been made that two coordination officers and a management assistant were newly recruited outside the approved procedure, stating it was for a special project of the National Lotteries Board, and were then used in Mr. Ravi Karunanayake's personal staff and for political activities, without deploying them for service at the Lotteries Board. The main irregularity here is that the Lotteries Board had paid salaries and allowances exceeding three million rupees to these officers.

In relation to this incident, the former Chairperson of the National Lotteries Board, Ms. Shami Perera, was arrested on June 30, 2026. She was later released on two personal bail bonds of one million rupees each, a travel ban, and conditions not to influence witnesses. The relationship between her and Mr. Ravi Karunanayake, as well as matters related to the political authority of the New Democratic Front (NDF), which contested under the 'Cylinder' symbol, have also been brought to attention during these investigations.

Even before this, in relation to the 2016 Central Bank bond incident, when warrants were issued by Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake, the former minister had taken steps to avoid arrest by appearing before the Court of Appeal. Furthermore, he is facing several other cases, including the High Court case regarding the payment of rent for a penthouse apartment complex worth 11.68 million rupees from a company belonging to Arjun Aloysius. However, even though he continuously tried to evade investigative bodies, it is believed that this time, he will have to face legal action and either be arrested or presented before the court.