Deputy Finance Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena, a monk named Wellampitiye Sumanadhamma, has been arrested by police last night on charges of fraud, a spokesperson of the Department of Police told Asian Mirror.

He has been allegedly involved in a financial misappropriation of 7.5 million Rupees. The monk has been arrested on Friday night by a special Police team, the spokesman also added. 

A businessman named Mervyn Perera has lodged a complaint with the Police with regard to the fraud. The monk has reportedly sold a land in Boralesgamuwa to the businessman, claiming that it was owned by him. However, it has been revealed that the land was not privately owned by the monk but was Sanghika Property (owned by the Buddhist order of monks in common).

The monk has been arrested while hiding in a house in Peliyagoda and been handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department.

This monk is said to have been a loyalist of BBS General Secretary Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera. Furthermore, he was reportedly the leader of the group of monks who invaded the Ministry of Trade and Industry a few months back, claiming that Watareka Vijitha Thera was hiding inside.