Wimal arrested, Government defends move

Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa was arrested over his passport by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) yesterday.

The Government said that he was arrested over having in his possession two forged passports.

Weerawansa was grilled by the CID at the airport when he was about to leave for Italy. He was later arrested and taken to Court and released on bail.

Deputy Minister Ajith Perera told Parliament that Weerawansa was arrested for having two fake passports in his possession.

He said that Weerawansa was about to travel to Italy to have a meeting with the Sri Lankan community in Italy.

Opposition Parliamentarian and Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) leader Dinesh Gunawardena said that Weerawansa was arrested despite an assurance given by the Government earlier that he would not be detained.

Opposition Parliamentarian Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that he spoke to the immigration and emigration chief and he was not aware as to why Weerawansa was arrested. (Colombo Gazette)