Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe Arrested Amid Fund Misuse Allegations

In a shocking turn of events, former Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe has been taken into custody, facing accusations of misusing state funds during his international travels while in office.

Wickremesinghe, who held the presidency from 2022 to 2024, was arrested by police as part of an investigation into his trips abroad, which reportedly incurred expenses exceeding Rs 600 million (approximately $2 million). He is set to appear in a magistrate's court in Colombo on Friday after providing a statement to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) earlier today. The arrest is centered around a stopover in the UK in 2023, following the G77 summit in Cuba, where Wickremesinghe and his wife attended a ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton. The CID has alleged that this was a private engagement for which government resources were wrongfully allocated, a claim Wickremesinghe has firmly denied.

This incident follows Wickremesinghe's role as a key figure in steering Sri Lanka towards economic recovery after a devastating crisis that saw his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, flee the country. As a seasoned politician with multiple terms as prime minister since the 1990s, his arrest poses significant implications for the political landscape in Sri Lanka. The situation remains fluid, with further updates anticipated as the story develops.