Sri Lanka's defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka beaten during arrest

By Dean Nelson, South Asia Editor - General Sarath Fonseka, the former Sri Lankan military chief and defeated presidential candidate, has been punched and dragged along the ground by army troops who arrested him as he met political allies last night.

His wife was later forced to give a statement to police investigators, who raided her home at midnight, and was questioned until 2am this morning.

The general is believed to have been arrested in relation to an alleged coup plot against Presidential Mahinda Rajapaksa, but a military statement issued last night said he had been taken into "military custody" in connection with "certain fraudulent acts and other military offences committed by him."

A military spokesman said "military investigations" were continuing and that a detailed statement will be issued later. He is expected to face a court martial trial.

Opposition leaders have denounced General Fonseka's arrest as a "brutal, armed kidnapping" in which he and other opposition leaders were physically assaulted by an army major-general.

"There was no decorum. To call it an arrest gives dignity and legality to what was a brutal abduction. He was beaten, dragged along the floor and bundled into a van," said his presidential campaign spokesman, Mangala Samaraweera.

He had been meeting Sri Lankan Muslim Congress leader Rauf Hakim and Mano Ganesan, the leader of the Democratic People's Front, at their Colombo campaign headquarters, when Major-General Sumith Manawadu stormed in with a group of military policemen and ordered them to arrest the general and his aide Senaka da Silva.

He had been planning their forthcoming general election campaign for the parliament, which is expected to be dissolved later today, when troops surrounded his headquarters at around 9 pm last night.

"They stormed into the conference room while the meeting was going on and assaulted Mano Ganesan, he [Major-General Manawadu] punched him and then a dozen army people walked in. General Fonseka said 'this must be done by the police', at which point Manawadu punched Fonseka. The other armed fellows pinned him to the ground and dragged him by the legs. They carried him down the stairs and bundled him into a van along with his secretary. He was also assaulted," said Mr Samaraweera.

"He is retired, the military police can't arrest him, it must be under civil law. Until 2am General Fonseka's wife had no idea of his whereabouts, and we still don't know anything. You can't be assaulted and bundled into a car without a warrant," he added.

Britain and the United States have expressed concerns over the general's treatment since his hotel was surrounded by army troops after his election defeat last month. He has blamed wide scale ballot fraud for his defeat.

General Fonseka and President Rajapaksa had fallen out over who deserved the credit for defeating the Tamil Tigers in the country's 26 year civil war.

Since his defeat, more than 20 of his campaign staff have been arrested, including several former military officers, and computer equipment has been seized by civilian police.

© Daily Telegraph