Former State Minister Premalal Jayasekara was arrested by the Nuwara Eliya Police on Tuesday over allegations that he threatened a person with a firearm, police said.
Police Media Spokesman ASP F. U. Wootler confirmed the arrest, saying the former parliamentarian faces accusations of threatening an individual at gunpoint. The Nuwara Eliya Police are continuing investigations into the incident.
Jayasekara served as Minister of Ports and Aviation from 2022 to 2024 under the previous Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government and was earlier a state minister. He is widely known as “Choka Malli” and has represented Ratnapura District in parliament.
He was elected to parliament in 2020 despite having been convicted in a death penalty case for the 2015 murder of a political supporter during an election-period shooting. That conviction was later overturned on appeal, allowing him to continue in politics.
The arrest is the latest in a series of high-profile accountability moves against former ministers and officials since the National People’s Power (NPP) government took office in 2024. It follows the remanding of former minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan in connection with a 2005 university VC murder and the writ petition filed by former intelligence chief Suresh Sallay over his detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
No court appearance schedule has yet been announced for Jayasekara. Police said the investigation into the alleged threat remained ongoing.
