6 January 2020 12:20 am
Pic by nisal baduge
By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya
UNP Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake who was arrested by the Colombo (South) Crime Division over possession of a pistol without a valid licence, was granted bail when he was produced in the Gangodawila Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The MP, who was arrested at his Madiwela residence over the possession of a pistol without a license, was released on two surety bail of Rs.500, 000 each and imposed a travel ban.
Ardently known by the nickname ‘One Shot’ for his role in the blockbuster movie, MP Ramanayake was arrested several hours after the search at his residence at Madiwela on Saturday evening.
Police said the residence was searched following a court order by the Gangodawila Magistrate.
However, the MP who went online during the search of his residence had broadcast the entire search operation through Facebook. He claimed that the police had not mentioned the reason of the search. “I have not done any crime but in case if I get arrested I will go to prison not hospital. I am in good health and ready to face any repercussion for speaking the truth,” he tweeted during the search by the police.
“Looks like they want to take my personal laptop and all the CDs and DVDs at my home. They have also taken a file I had on the murder of Ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen. Looks like under Gotabaya Rajapaksa we can’t keep any laptops or document files,” he also tweeted before he got arrested.
Police said they recovered a pistol without a valid license, 127 ammunition of 9mm caliber and several suspicious documents during the search.
MP Ramanayake was arrested around 7.30 p.m. at his Madiwela residence and UNP MPs Harin Fernando, Palitha Thewarapperuma, Ashu Marasinghe and Mujibur Rahman were also at Ramanayake’s residence when he was arrested.
MP Ramanayake also hugged the police officer who placed the handcuffs on him before he was taken away in the police jeep. Meanwhile, Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that MP Ramanayake was arrested not over his gun issue but over the phone recordings found from his phone, which shows he pressurized judiciary, CID officers while he was in power.
Pix by nisal baduge