COLOMBO, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's former Minister of Petroleum Arjuna Ranatunga was arrested by the criminal police on Monday over a violent clash at the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) a day earlier which left one dead and two injured.
The police said Ranatunga will present before a local court later in the day.
A group of CPC workers protested at the company premises on Sunday. When situation got intense, a security guard from the minister's security team opened fire at the protesters, killing one and injuring two.
Ranatunga was escorted off the CPC premises by special security forces during the clash.
Police said the security guard who opened fire was arrested immediately.
CPC Trade Union workers later Sunday launched a strike leading to long queues at petrol stations across the island country.
Following Ranatunga's arrest, the CPC said the strike was called off.
President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and named former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to be the new prime minister, which means the cabinet was automatically dissolved.
However, Wickremesinghe insisted his party still holds the majority of the 225-seat parliament and claimed himself still the incumbent prime minister.
