WASHINGTON: The United States said Wednesday it would refuse visas on human rights grounds to a Sri Lankan provincial governor who had been charged with killings during the island’s long civil war.

A Sri Lankan investigation accused former navy chief Wasantha Karannagoda, among others, of abducting teenage children of wealthy families and killing them after extorting money.

Authorities in 2021 dropped charges, prompting an outcry from human rights groups, and he was soon named governor of North Western Province by then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who served as defense chief when Sri Lanka defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said allegations against Karannagoda remained “serious and credible” and that neither the governor nor his wife would be allowed to visit the United States.