Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya ordered Southern Provincial Council Deputy Chairman Sampath Athukorala to be remanded till October 5 on a case of allegedly tarnishing the image of President Maithripala Sirisena.

Athukorala had allegedly uploaded defamatory, forged pictures of Sirisena and a woman on Facebook. The alleged incident took place during the 2015 January Presidential Election campaign when Sirisena was the common candidate of the opposition.

Athukorala was wanted by police over the alleged incident. He surrendered to the Magistrate's Court this morning.