Interpol issues 'Red Notice' on former Sri Lanka Central Bank governor Arjuna Mahendran

Sri Lanka Police have said the Interpol has issued a 'Red Notice' on the island's former Central Bank governor Arjuna Mahendran over a Treasury bond scam which cost the country's coffers millions of dollars.

The police said on Friday the ‘Red Notice’ would be effective in all countries and not just any particular region.

The police will also work closely with Interpol to locate Mahendran's whereabouts after it was reported that he had fled the island country despite being a key suspect in the Treasury bond scam.

On Mar 29, a local magistrate's court in Colombo re-issued an arrest warrant for the former Central Bank chief while the prosecution had said it was working on getting a ‘Red Notice’ from Interpol for Mahendran's arrest.

The court had been informed that Mahedran had been absconding.

Mahendran was appointed Sri Lanka's Central Bank governor by President Maithripala Sirisena in January 2015, before the alleged bond scam took place. Mahendran however resigned a year later.

A presidential commission, who was investigating the alleged scam, in a report accused Mahendran of insider trading and recommended the state recover its losses from him and his son-in-law Arjuna Aloysius who is also alleged to have been involved.

Aloysius is currently in remand and held at a prison in Colombo over the controversial scam.

The Treasury is said to have lost about $72 million due to the Treasury bond scam and other malpractices which was allegedly committed under the watch of Mahendran.