Nuwan Kulasekara arrested after fatal road accident, released on bail

Sri Lanka bowler Nuwan Kulasekara was arrested after being involved in a road accident that resulted in the death of a 28-year old. He was later released on bail.

The vehicle that Kulasekara was driving, collided with a motorcycle, and resulted in the death of the rider. As is the case during a major crime, Kulasekara was arrested, but the police released him on bail after admitting that it was not his fault. The motorcycle had flung in the direction of Kulasekara’s jeep, and had unfortunately killed the victim.

The 34-year old bowler was returning from Kandy to Colombo on Monday afternoon when the accident occurred in the Kirillawera area of Kadawatha. The body of the deceased was taken to a local hospital. Kulasekara will be produced before a local magistrate in the next few days.

After the accident, the Sri Lankan Cricket Board tweeted in support of the bowler, clarifying that he was not to blame.

Nuwan Kulasekara enlarged on bail after unfortunate fatal accident involving his jeep where a 28yr old youth was flung into his path. #LKA

— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) September 19, 2016

A Sri Lanka Cricket release said: “Preliminary inquiries have revealed that Mr Kulasekara was returning to Colombo from Kandy, when the unfortunate motorcycle rider who was travelling in the opposite direction had lost control of his bike whilst trying to overtake a bus and got flung into Mr Kulasekara's path”.

The Nittambuva born bowler has played 173 ODIs and 21 Tests for the national team. He first played for Sri Lanka in an ODI in 2003, and made his debut in the whites in two years later. He also played under Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

The right-arm pacer retired from Tests in June this year to focus on the shorter formats. The same month, he was roped in by Sussex as a short-term replacement for Mustafizur Rahman, who arrived late in the squad. Considered one of the best swing bowlers to emerge from Sri Lanka recently, he was once ranked No.1 in the ODI rankings as well.