Lankan military takes Fonseka into custody

Feb. 9: Sri Lanka’s defeated opposition presidential candidate Gen. Sarath Fonseka was tonight arrested by the military police, a fortnight after he suffered defeat at the hands of incumbent, Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa.
A close aide of the former Army Chief, who is credited with the annihilation of the LTTE, said that Gen. Fonseka and one of his associates were taken into custody while they were at work in their office in the capital.
He said that Gen. Fonseka and his media secretary, Mr Senaka de Silva, were arrested by the military police.
The aide said that Gen. Fonseka and Mr Senaka were “told in clear terms to cooperate with the military police”. “I heared one of the officers telling Gen. Fonseka that he is being charged for criminal conspiracy,” he said. The arrest comes in the wake of reports that Gen. Fonseka could face a military court on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government and plotting to kill Mr Rajapaksa.
The Sunday Times newspaper had on Sunday said that the Rajapaksa-led government, which alleged soon after the presidential poll verdict that the former military chief had plotted to kill the President, has consulted its top legal counsel on trying Gen. Fonseka in a court martial.
Soon after his defeat in the January 26 polls, the Sri Lankan government had alleged that Gen. Fonseka had tried to assassinate Mr Rajapaksa and his family, a charge which was denied by the former army chief.
The defence spokesman Maj. Gen. Prasad Samarasinghe, said that Gen. Fonseka will “face court martial proceedings.”