The Sunday Leader newspaper, formed by journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge, has halted its operations, Asian Mirror reliably learns.

Controversial businessman Arjuna Aloysisus, who is now under the spotlight over the Treasury bonds investigation, funded the newspaper.

The company had to halt its operation with Aloysius cutting down funding to the paper, a source close to the newspaper said.

It was also revealed at the Presidential Commission to investigate into the bond issue that Aloysius bankrolled the paper.

The salaries of its employees have not been paid for several months. The company, according to its workers, is now on the verge of bankruptcy.

The Sunday Leader, once a firebrand newspaper, is remembered for its dynamic editor Lasantha Wickrematunga who was killed in January, 2009, by an armed group.

 A few years after his death, Asanga Seneviratne, a businessman closely affiliated with the family of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, acquired the newspaper.

 After a new government came to power in January, 2015, Arjuna Aloysius became the chief financier of the paper and he also appointed a director to administer the company.