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The defeated candidate in Sri Lanka's presidential election, former army chief Sarath Fonseka, was arrested Monday, two weeks after his loss at the polls, officials said.
State media said Fonseka, who led the army to victory over Tamil Tiger rebels last year, ending a bloody 37-year insurgency, was to be charged with unspecified "military offences".
The retired four-star general, who lost to President Mahinda Rajapakse in the January 26 election, was taken into custody when troops stormed the offices of the main opposition alliance which had backed his candidacy.
"They forcibly took away General Fonseka while he was having a discussion with three other senior opposition leaders," a spokesman for the People's Liberation Front (JVP) told AFP.
"The general refused to be taken away. They grabbed him and virtually carried him away after threatening the others," the spokesman said. "There must have been over 100 soldiers."
The office was cordoned off by heavily armed troops who blocked reporters and photographers from entering the building and taking pictures.
Fonseka's campaign manager, Senaka de Silva, was also taken away, witnesses said.
Official sources confirmed that Fonseka was seized by the military police who took him before a doctor to check his medical condition before formally placing him under arrest.
The dramatic arrest came a day after a private newspaper said Fonseka, 59, could be court martialed on charges of plotting a coup to topple the government.
Earlier this month, Rajapakse had sacked a dozen senior military officers whom the defence ministry said were a "direct threat" to national security.
The government has sought legal advice on using a military court to fast-track proceedings against Fonseka who was hailed as a national hero after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May.
During their head-to-head at the ballot box, both Fonseka and Rajapakse had sought to take credit for the spectacular military success that ended the Tigers' armed campaign for an independent Tamil homeland.
Rajapakse won the election easily but Fonseka vowed to challenge the result in the Supreme Court.
While the government insisted the election was free and fair, the United States and the European Commission have pressed for a probe into allegations of vote fraud.
Fonseka had told reporters earlier Monday that he was keen to contest parliamentary elections, which political sources say the government is expected to call within days -- two months ahead of schedule.
He also said the government had already arrested more than 50 people from his office in what he described as a bid to prevent evidence being collected to support his challenge to the presidential poll result.
