Former State Minister Lohan Ratwatte, who was released on bail yesterday, has been arrested at Kollupitiya following a traffic accident.

Police said the former state minister was arrested due to driving under the influence of alcohol. 

A Land Rover Defender driven by the former parliamentarian had collided with a car in the Kollupitiya area while he was driving under the influence of alcohol, police said. 

Lohan Ratwatte and his wife Shashi Prabha Ratwatte were granted bail yesterday (05) by the Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court, following their arrest over charges of using a luxury car illegally imported and assembled in Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, the court had ordered them released on a cash bail of Rs. 25,000 each and two personal bonds of Rs. 1 million each. The court also issued an overseas travel ban on Ratwatte.

Police had found the luxury car in question during an inspection carried out based on information received by the police headquarters regarding a luxury car without number plates at a three-storied house in the Embuldeniya area in Mirihana, belonging to Shashi Prabha Ratwatte, the wife of former State Minister Lohan Ratwatte.

During the investigation, both Ratwatte and his wife had explained to the police that his mother-in-law resides in the said house. They had claimed that the car had been brought there a while back by Ratwatte’s private secretary, who was recently found dead with gunshot injuries in the Katugastota area of Kandy.