The Sri Lankan authorities are now preparing to arrest the former World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga due to alleged corruption connected to fuel procurement deal which has been dated back to the year 2017 when he served country’s petroleum minister.
The investigation was carried by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s ongoing anti-corruption drive. It was focused on examining alleged financial irregularities which involved past political leadership as well. The officials say that the case has highlighted wider concerns and according to the investigators, Ranatunga and his elder brother Dhammika who is also the chairman of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) then deviated from the standard tendering norms.
It has also been figured that the duo were allegedly authorised multiple “spot-purchases” at inflated prices. The authorities even claim that this approach benefitted the select suppliers and causes many losses to the state. The Sri Lanka’s anti-corruption agency CIABOC informed the Colombo Magistrate’s Court that 27 such transactions have resulted in a huge loss of nearly 800 million Sri Lankan rupees which is around INR 23.5 crores.
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Arjuna Ranatunga will be taken into custody as soon as he will return back to Sri Lanka and the next hearing of his case is scheduled to be held on March 13, 2026. Ranatunga has been one of the most prominent names in Sri Lankan cricket and he also captained his team towards 1996 ODI World Cup win. Overall in his cricket career, he has played 93 Tests and 269 ODIs – amassing over 13,000 international runs.
