Ranga remanded

By Dinasena Rathugamage

Vavuniya High Court Judge, M.M. Mohamed Nihal, yesterday ordered former MP J. Sri Ranga to be remanded until 27 March.

Ranga was arrested on 17 March. for allegedly influencing witnesses over an accident in Vavuniya in 2011, police said.

Earlier, the Vavuniya High Court judge issued a warrant to arrest and produce the former MP Sri Ranga before the Court for influencing and intimidating the witnesses in a case pending before the Court, regarding the death of a police sergeant, in an accident near the Settikulam hospital, in Vavuniya, on 30 July, 2011.

The vehicle collided head-on with a tree, on the side of the road, killing the police sergeant who was the MP’s bodyguard.

After the accident, the former MP made a statement saying that the vehicle had been driven by the police sergeant.

However, investigations later revealed that the vehicle was driven by the former MP at the time of the accident.

It was revealed that the former MP made phone calls to two people who had given evidence in relation to the case and tried to influence them.

Accordingly, the former MP was arrested while receiving treatment at the Colombo South Teaching Hospital on 17 March.