Sri Lanka, Sept. 12 -- Venerable Athuraliye Rathana Thera, who was in remand custody, has been granted bail by the Nugegoda Additional Magistrate, Sanjaya Wijesinghe.

The magistrate ordered his release on two personal bails of Rs. 500,000 each and a cash bail of Rs.10,000.

The court also imposed a travel ban.

Rathana Thera, who had been in hiding after a warrant was issued for his arrest, had surrendered to the court through a lawyer on August 29 and was subsequently remanded.

The charges against him relate to the alleged abduction and detention of Venerable Vedinigama Wimalatissa Thera, the General Secretary of the Our Power of People Party (OPPP), in an attempt to secure the party's National List parliamentary seat after the 2020 ge...