Three injured as Sri Lankan minister's guard opens fire, arrested

COLOMBO: Amid the current political crisis in Sri Lanka, three people were injured in Colombo after a security guard of parliamentarian Arjuna Ranatunga opened fire at a crowd.

President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday declared that the cabinet has been dissolved after Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed as the new prime minister of Sri Lanka. 

When Arjuna Ranatunga tried to enter his office at the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, his official security guard shot and injured three people, Reuters quoted police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera.

The guard has been arrested by the police and further investigations are underway.

The tiny South Asian country off the southern tip of India plunged into political turmoil late on Friday after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe and swore in former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as his replacement.

On Saturday, Sirisena ordered to suspend parliament until Nov. 16, in a move widely seen as an attempt to stop Wickremesinghe from trying to prove he maintains a parliamentary majority.

Security has been tightened around key government institutions as trade unions linked to Rajapaksa`s political party have blocked access to some Wickremesinghe-party ministers entering their respective ministries.

(With Agency Inputs)