Arjuna Ranatunga. (photo/social media) Sri Lankan authorities plan to arrest former men’s cricket team captain Arjuna Ranatunga on corruption charges linked to his tenure as oil minister, a court said on Monday.Ranatunga and his brother are accused of altering the procedure for awarding long-term oil contracts and instead making immediate purchases at higher prices, according to a corruption watchdog.“The total loss to the state from the 27 purchases is 800 million rupees,” the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption told the court, AFP news agency reported. At the close of business in 2017, that amount equated to just over $5 million.The commission told Colombian judge Asang Bodaragama that Arjuna Ranatunga is currently abroad and will be arrested upon his return.His elder brother Dhammika Ranatunga, who was the chairman of the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation at the time, was arrested on Monday and later released on bail.A judge imposed a travel ban on Dhammika, who holds dual citizenship of Sri Lanka and the United States.The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 13.Arjuna Ranatunga, 62, led Sri Lanka to victory in the 1996 Cricket World Cup, defeating Australia in the final.The case of the Ranatunga brothers is part of a wider crackdown by the government of Sri Lankan President Anur Kumar Dissanayake, who came to power last year after pledging to crack down on corruption.Another brother, Prasanna Ranatunga, a former tourism minister, was arrested last month in connection with an insurance fraud case. That matter is pending.Prasanna Ranatunga was previously convicted in June 2022 of extorting money from a businessman and is currently serving a two-year suspended prison sentence.
