Indian businessman sent private jet for PM Rajapaksa, says SLPP MP

COLOMBO (News 1st); Ruling party (Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna) Parliamentarian Milan Jayathilake on Thursday (30) said that a powerful businessman in India had sent his private jet to Sri Lanka for the country's Prime Minister to travel to Tirupati.

"The jet was sent for a personal matter and the cost was borne by that Indian businessman," he said.

The MP also snapped at the JVP for attempting to label the private jet as the property of the Prime Minister.

JVPs Wasantha Samarasinghe on Wednesday (29), slammed the Prime Minister for undertaking a visit to Tirupati at a cost of USD 32 Million using a private jet, while the people in the country struggling to survive.

He said the government that says it is not in possession of US Dollars to procure fertilizer and other essentials, is easily locating dollars for private trips to Tirupati.

The Political Activist also said that it was the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Uganda Velupillai Kananathan who sent the private jet for Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to travel to Tirupati.

He said these incidents make it clear that the missing LTTE gold, as well as the money stowed away in foreign accounts, are surfacing through these events.

He warned that the rulers will have to use that once again to leave the country with their families when the people start asking questions.

Private jet to India : Where did it come from? – FSP raises concerns

Sri Lanka’s Frontline Socialists Party says that the private jet used by the Prime Minister to travel to India on pilgrimage recently has a flight history that is a cause for concern.

“The T7 – JSG has a very interesting flight history,” said Pubudu Jagoda, the Academic Secretary of the FSP, and the flight path detailed by him is as follows.

10th December 2021 : Arrives at the Katunayake Airport from India.

10th December 2021 : Flies to Jomo Kenyatta International from Katunayake Airport.

14th December 2021 : Travels to multiple locations in Kenya

14th December 2021 : Flies to Bukoba Airport, Tanzania

15th December 2021 : Flies to Kampala Airport (Entebbe International Airport) from Tanzania

16th December 2021 : Arrives at Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana.

Pubudu Jagoda says that after reaching Sri Lanka on the 16th of December, the private jet had flown to Cochin and Chennai in India on two separate occasions, before reaching the country once again.

23rd December 2021 : Flies to Thirupathi

24th December 2021 : Returns to Sri Lanka

27th December 2021 : Flies to New Delhi India.

The Frontline Socialist Party activist said that the Prime Ministers’ son Yoshitha Rajapaksa was quoted as saying that the Prime Minister did not pay for the jet, and that payments were made by a friend of Rajapaksa.

However, he said that irrespective of who makes the payment, it has an impact on the country’s foreign reserves.

“We have serious concerns over the visits made to Chennai and Cochin. Who traveled in the private jet during these two visits? What were they carrying,” he said.

Jagoda pointed out that around Rs. 32 Million was spent on this private jet and raised concerns as to why the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka would resort to using a private jet when he could have easily used a passenger plane.

He also said the private jet belongs to Jetsetgo Aviation Services Pvt Ltd, and that is caters to the super-rich.

(Bloomberg: Jetsetgo Aviation Services Private Limited provides aviation services. The Company owns a fleet and offers on-demand air connectivity solutions, such as aircraft management and maintenance services to the corporate aviation sector. Jetsetgo Aviation Services serves customers in India, Dubai, and the United States.)

He further said that the T7 call sign for private jets is registered in San Marino, Italy that acted as a tax haven for wealthy people.

He said it is a cause of concern if the private jet was used for a money-laundering operation.