United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake has been released on bail after having been arrested by Sri Lankan police, for allegedly not having renewed the license of a weapon that had been provided by the government.
Ramanayake’s arrest makes him the third opposition leader to have been detained since Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency began in November last year.
The opposition parliamentarian said that the police had raided his house searching for drugs and instead left with files related to the murder of Wasim Thajudeen.
He went on to tweet:
“They have also taken a file I had on murder of Ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen. Looks like under @GotabayaR we cant keep any laptops or document files.” (sic)
He also said that he was “ready to face any repurcussion for speaking the truth,” (sic) and told reporters that he had been expecting the arrest.
Ramanayake broadcasted the search operation live on his Facebook, where the police seized the unlicensed weapon, his personal laptop, and some CDs and DVDs. The footage, posted by Colombo Gazette, shows that after being handcuffed, Ramanayake was seen laughing and sharing jokes with the Sri Lankan police officers, taking selfies and giving the officers hugs.
See more from Colombo Gazette here, the New Indian Express here.
