Kumar Gunaratnam arrested

Frontline Socialists Party (FSP) political committee member Premakumar Gunaratnam has been arrested by police in Kegalle.

Police spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara stated that he was arrested by Kegalle Police in the Aguruwella area and that he is currently being taken to Kegalle.

A spokesman for the immigration department’s media unit said that Gunaratnam would be deported to Australia after he is fined for over staying his visa.  

Popularly known as Kumar Gunaratnam, the former JVP politburo member had arrived in Sri Lanka from Australia on January 01, just days before the Presidential Election.

Gunaratnam, who holds Australian citizenship, had arrived in the island on a 30-day tourist visa which expired on January 31 while the Department of Immigration and Emigration had sought his arrest for visa violations.

He was summoned twice by the Department of Immigration to record statements about his involvement in local politics.

His arrest and deportation was stayed by the Supreme Court after a petition filed by the FSP was taken up for hearing, however the petition was dismissed by the court on February 18.

Gunaratnam, along with several other JVP dissidents, formed the Frontline Socialists Party in April, 2012.

In the same month, Gunaratnam who held a passport in the name of Noel Mudalige was fined for overstaying in the country and deported.