Sri Lankan authorities plan to arrest World Cup-winning cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga on corruption charges related to his tenure as petroleum minister. This information was given to the court on Monday. According to the anti-corruption body, Ranatunga and his brother are accused of making immediate purchases at higher costs.
According to the commission set up to investigate allegations of bribery or corruption, the state suffered a total loss of 800 million Sri Lankan rupees (about Rs 23.5 crore) from 27 purchases made during the deals in 2017.
The commission told Colombo Magistrate Asanga Bodargama that Arjun was abroad and would be arrested upon his return.
The former minister’s elder brother Dhammika Ranatunga, who was then chairman of the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, was arrested on Monday and later released on bail. The magistrate has imposed a travel ban on Dhammika. He holds dual citizenship of Sri Lanka and the United States. The next hearing is scheduled for March 13.
62-year-old left-handed batsman Arjun won the 1996 Cricket World Cup by defeating Australia, which was the biggest achievement in cricket for Sri Lanka.
The case against the Ranatunga brothers is part of a broader crackdown by the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Dissanayake came to power last year and promised to end corruption.
Another brother of the Ranatunga brothers, Prasanna, a former tourism minister, was arrested last month in an insurance fraud case. This case is still pending, but earlier in June 2022, he was convicted on charges of extortion from a businessman. He has been sentenced to two years of suspended imprisonment.
