COLOMBO – Police arrested Sri Lanka´s petroleum minister Monday, a dayafter a man was killed when bodyguards opened fire to rescue him from agroup loyal to the country´s president, officials said.
Arjuna Ranatunga, captain of Sri Lanka´s 1996 cricket World Cup winningside and an ally of ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, was takenin after trade unions accused him of ordering the shooting.
Sunday´s shooting was the first since President Maithripala Sirisena sackedWickremesinghe, plunging the country into a constitutional crisis.
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Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the minister was arrested followingcomplaints from petroleum unions that it was the minister who had orderedthe shooting.
Unions went on strike Monday in protest over the shooting, sparking longqueues for fuel at gas stations.
Ranatunga´s office said hundreds of people gathered at the ministry Sundaywhen the minister appeared, beating his staff and trying to take himhostage.
“When they tried to break open his office door and capture him, the SpecialTask Force commandos came to rescue him,” spokesman Thameera Manju told AFP.
One of Ranatunga´s bodyguards, a policeman, opened fire.
Three people were struck and a 34-year-old man died in hospital Sundaynight.
The bodyguard was arrested on Sunday and is still being held. – APP/AFP
