Murder probe casts shadow over Rajapaksa’s comeback bid

COLOMBO: The exhumation of the remains of a star rugby player whose death is now the target of a murder investigation has cast a shadow over former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s comeback bid at Sri Lanka’s general election next week.
Rajapaksa, 69, has denied allegations by the government that Wasim Thajudeen was tortured to death in May 2012 by members of his security team and did not die in a car crash as reported at the time.
“There are no bloodstains on our hands,” the two-term president said after police last week obtained a court order to exhume Thajudeen’s body on suspicion that he had been murdered.
Rajapaksa, who has set his sights on becoming Sri Lanka’s next prime minister, said the investigation was timed to coincide with the Aug. 17 elections. He demanded an independent inquiry.
Nobody has been arrested or charged, but the case has received sensational coverage in the local press that could mobilize voters resentful of Rajapaksa, who as Sri Lankan leader built a close alliance with China.
“It’s potentially very explosive — it might go right to the top,” said analyst Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, who runs a policy think tank and election monitoring group.
Although still held in high esteem by much of Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhala community for defeating a 26-year Tamil insurgency in 2009, Rajapaksa is reviled by others who accuse him of running a brutal dynastic regime.