Sri Lankan authorities have announced plans to arrest Arjuna Ranatunga, the celebrated captain who led the nation to its 1996 Cricket World Cup victory, on corruption charges stemming from his tenure as Minister of Petroleum Resources Development. The allegations involve procedural violations in oil procurement that allegedly caused significant financial losses to the state.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) informed a Colombo court that Ranatunga, currently abroad, will be detained upon his return to the country. His elder brother, Dhammika Ranatunga, former chairman of the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, was arrested in connection with the same case but subsequently released on bail, with a travel ban imposed due to his dual citizenship.

The charges center on decisions made in 2017, when the brothers are accused of bypassing standard procedures for awarding long-term oil procurement contracts in favor of more expensive spot purchases. According to CIABOC, these actions resulted in a loss of approximately 800 million Sri Lankan rupees to the public coffers across 27 transactions.

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This development forms part of a broader anti-corruption initiative under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who assumed office pledging to address entrenched graft. Another sibling, former tourism minister Prasanna Ranatunga, faced arrest last month in a separate insurance fraud case and is serving a suspended sentence from a prior conviction.

The case has drawn widespread attention, contrasting Ranatunga's iconic status as a national hero—remembered for masterminding Sri Lanka's triumph over Australia in the 1996 World Cup final—with the serious allegations of misconduct during his political career. The next court hearing is scheduled for March 13, 2026.

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