Sri Lankan Police arrest former health minister

Sri Lanka's former health minister Rajitha Senaratne was arrested at a private hospital here on Friday for addressing a news conference on the infamous "white van" abductions, the second opposition lawmaker to be apprehended since President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office last month.

Colombo Additional Magistrate visited Senarathna at the hospital on Friday and approved his detention until December 30 for investigation.

At a news conference on November 10 in the lead up to the November 16 presidential election which Gotabaya Rajapaksa won by a huge margin, two men, along with Senaratne, spoke about "white van" squads that abducted government critics during former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime between 2005 and 2015.

The other two men who spoke at the conference were arrested earlier. One man had claimed to be the driver and the other as a victim of the dreaded white vans.

Senaratne is the third accused in the investigation, the CID officials said.

The CID obtained an arrest warrant on December 24, but Senaratne could not be arrested as he had gone missing until last night.

He is the second opposition lawmaker to be arrested since President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office in November. Former urban development minister Patali Champika Ranawaka was arrested last week over a 2016 traffic accident.

Senaratne has filed an anticipatory bail application which is due to be heard on Monday.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was the top defense official in his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa's government, has been accused of overseeing the "white van" abductions.

The President, however, has denied the allegation.