Former national cricketer Rambukwella arrested on drunk driving charge
Controversial
Sri Lanka national cricketer Ramith Rambukwella was arrested on charges of assault and drunk driving near Open University, Nawala, on Friday night.
Rambukwella allegedly assaulted two university students following an argument, police said. He was to be produced before the Aluthkade Magistrate on Saturday. Rambukwella, who represents Tamil Union in first class cricket, has played for Sri Lanka in two T20 matches during his career. He was recently rewarded with a domestic cricket contract by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) but has often made headlines for the wrong reasons.
In 2013, Rambukwella–while his father, Keheliya, was a senior Minister in Mahinda Rajapaksa Cabinet–became involved in a midair controversy when he had tried to open an aircraft door at 35,000 feet. The bizarre incident took place on the British Airways flight from St Lucia to London Gatwick and was reported on international media. He was with the Sri Lanka A team returning from a West Indies tour. It earned him a 50 percent fine of his tour fee and a severe warning from SLC.
In September 2016, Rambukwella was arrested following a car accident in Colombo. SLC, when contacted, said they were yet to receive full details of the latest incident and refused to comment further.
However the matter was settled out of court when the two complainants (the two undergrads) withdrew the charges on their own accord. This resulted in Police only charging Rambukwella on a charge of driving under the influence of liquor and will be produced at Aluthkade courts on Tuesday. He was released on Police bail.