COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Kapila Chandrasena, the former chief executive of SriLankan Airlines who faced corruption charges in one of Sri Lanka’s most consequential bribery investigations, was found dead on Friday morning at the Colombo residence of his brother-in-law, the former Sri Lankan cricket star Aravinda de Silva, according to police and information obtained by Jaffna Monitor.
Mr. Chandrasena, 58, was found hanging inside the residence on Pedris Place in Kollupitiya, police said. Authorities described the death as suspicious pending further investigation, and a post-mortem examination has been ordered. A Colombo magistrate visited the scene on Friday as part of the inquiry.
Mr. Chandrasena’s wife, Priyanka Neomali Wijenayake, is the sister of Mr. de Silva’s wife, Anushka Wijenayake. Police said Mr. Chandrasena had arrived at the residence the previous day. Former Sri Lankan cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga was among those seen visiting the residence after news of the death emerged.
The death came hours after Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodharagama issued a warrant for Mr. Chandrasena’s rearrest, after prosecutors alleged that he had violated bail conditions by arranging fraudulent sureties during his release earlier this week.
The warrant ordered that Mr. Chandrasena be taken into custody and produced before the court without delay. Police sources said officers went to his Barnes Place residence on Wednesday evening to execute the order but found that he was not there. According to a person familiar with the matter, Mr. Chandrasena had gone to Mr. de Silva’s Pedris Place residence, roughly two kilometers from his home, after the warrant was issued as authorities searched for him. Police have not officially confirmed that account.
Mr. Chandrasena had been released on bail on May 5 in connection with allegations that he accepted millions of dollars in bribes linked to a 2013 aircraft procurement deal between SriLankan Airlines and Airbus, valued at approximately $2.3 billion.
International investigators alleged that Airbus agreed to pay roughly $16.84 million in bribes tied to the transaction. Prosecutors said at least $2 million was funneled through a shell company linked to Mr. Chandrasena’s wife and later transferred into a Singapore bank account.
In 2020, Airbus entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with British authorities, admitting that intermediaries had been used to improperly influence aircraft contracts in several countries, including Sri Lanka.
The United States imposed sanctions on Mr. Chandrasena in 2024, accusing him of significant corruption and barring him and his immediate family from entering the country.
The case drew heightened political scrutiny earlier this year when Sri Lanka’s Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, known as CIABOC, told a Colombo court that Mr. Chandrasena had initially claimed that 60 million Sri Lankan rupees from Airbus-related funds had been paid to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in three installments, while an additional 20 million rupees had allegedly been paid to former Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne.
Mr. Chandrasena later withdrew those allegations in a sworn affidavit, asserting that the statement had been extracted under coercion and that references to senior political figures had been made under pressure and without legal counsel present.
CIABOC has not publicly addressed those claims.
Police said Mr. Chandrasena was scheduled to appear in court on Friday morning.
