Lawmaker Sripathi Sooriyaarachi was produced before a judge who ordered him to be detained until Tuesday, police spokesman Jayantha Wickramaratne said.

Sooriyaarachi is alleged to have been using a state vehicle that is not assigned to him.

President Mahinda Rajapakse last month sacked Sooriyaarachi as minister of port development after he criticized a recent Cabinet reshuffle which saw opposition politicians join the government.

The then Aviation Minister Mangala Samaraweera was also sacked along with Sooriyaarachi.

Rajapakse cemented his government's majority in the 225-member Parliament by courting 25 opposition members of Parliament. Ten of the former opposition members were given ministerial positions in the new, expanded 53-member Cabinet.Discuss this story Published: Sat Mar 17 13:04:12 EDT 2007

Additional Colombo Magistrate, Gihan Pilapitiya, remanded Sooriyarachchi till March 20. The charge against the former minister was that he had not surrendered his official jeep after he was sacked by the president. But Sooriyarachchi said that he could not return the vehicle because it was under repairs.

Subsequently, when it was out of the garage, he had given it back on March 3, he said. According to political circles there is more to the case than meets the eye. More... Discuss this story Published: Sat Mar 17 14:42:38 EDT 2007