COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's former president Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested on Friday for allegedly misusing the state funds, police said.

Wickremesinghe, 76, was arrested at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters, where he was summoned to record a statement in connection with an investigation into the alleged misuse of government funds, police said.

He has been accused of using state funds to travel to England to attend a convocation ceremony of his wife, Prof Maithree, in September 2023.

It has been alleged that Wickremesinghe was returning from the US after an official engagement and visited the UK at the state's expense to attend the private engagement of his wife.

The CID had previously questioned his staff about the travel expenses.

Wickremesinghe, who had replaced Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President to serve the balance term until the end of 2024, was credited with steering Sri Lanka out of the economic crisis of 2022. He was president from July 2022 to September 2024.

The veteran politician also served as Sri Lanka's prime minister six times.