Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka‘s World Cup-winning captain, is set to be arrested on corruption charges related to his time as petroleum minister, a court was informed on Monday, according to the news agency AFP. Ranatunga and his brother have been accused of changing the procedure for awarding long-time oil procurement contracts, and making spot purchases at a higher cost, as revealed by a corruption watchdog.
According to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the total loss to the state from 27 purchases is estimated to be approximately 800 million rupees, equivalent to USD 5 million. It is worth mentioning that the deals were made in 2017.
The commission has already informed the Colombo Magistrate, Asanga Bodaragama, that Arjuna was abroad and would therefore be arrested upon his return to the country.
Ranatunga’s elder brother Dhammika, the then chairman of the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, has already been arrested. He was taken behind bars on Monday; however, he was later released on bail.
A travel ban has been imposed on Dhammika by the magistrate. Arjuna Ranatunga’s brother is a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and the United States. The next hearing has been scheduled for March 13, 2026, according to news agency AFP.
The case against Ranatunga and his brother is a part of a crackdown by the current government, which came to power in 2024. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government had promised to end endemic corruption when it was voted to power.
Earlier, Ranatunga’s brother, Prasanna, a former tourism minister, was also arrested in connection with an insurance fraud case. The case is currently pending, but he had been previously convicted in June 2022 for extorting money from a businessman.
The legend of Ranatunga
Ranatunga, aged 62, was an extremely popular left-handed batter during his prime, and his greatest achievement was leading Sri Lanka to win the World Cup in 1996, after the Islanders defeated Australia in the summit clash.
Ranatunga played a total of 93 Tests and 269 ODIs, scoring more than 10,000 runs across the two formats. Under his captaincy, Sri Lanka also won a Test series in England for the first time.
In June 2000, he played in Sri Lanka’s 100th Test match, becoming the only player to represent his country in both their first and hundredth Test matches. He finally called time on his Test career in 2001.
