Former Sri Lankan minister Patali Champika Ranawaka arrested in 2016 road accident

On Wednesday, former Cabinet minister of Sri Lanka Patali Champika Ranawaka was arrested by the Sri Lankan police over his alleged involvement in an accident. Patali Champika Ranawaka was charged for a traffic accident in 2016 in which a young person was seriously wounded. The minister had been in the Urban Development Ministry in the state in the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa. 

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Ranawaka had been arrested earlier on the suspicion of committing rash driving and neglecting act causing grievous injury to a person and was also accused of switching from the driver's seat after the accident was caused. The case had been settled long back after his driver with whom he had allegedly switched seats with being fined for the accident.

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However, the former Cabinet minister has screamed political agenda and revenge after the case was reopened again during the tenure of Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was recently sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Patali Champika Ranawaka had been the cause of the downfall of the Mahinda government after he defected from the cabinet triggering a downfall. Ranawaka was arrested at his home after the direction of the attorney general.

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Who is the new Lankan President? 

70-year-old Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the second member of the Rajapaksa family to become the president of Sri Lanka. His older brother Mahinda Rajapaksa served as President from 2005 to 2015. Rajapaksa is credited with helping end the island nation's long civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during his tenure as the Defence Secretary. In 2006, he survived an assassination attempt carried out by the LTTE with minor injuries. The newly elected President defeated United National Party (UNP) candidate Sajith Premadasa by more than 13 lakh votes in the recently held presidential elections as per the country's election commission. 

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