COLOMBO, Jan 30: Sri Lanka Cricket president Thilanga Sumathipala on Friday pleaded not guilty to a charge of passport fraud. He appeared in court in Colombo, and was remanded in custody until 10 Feb. He is accused of altering a passport to enable an alleged gangster, Dhammika Amarasinghe, to attend 1999 World Cricket Cup in England.

Amarasinghe was shot dead earlier this month as he was being led into a court room to face murder charges. He had been linked to several killings, including attempted assassination of a newspaper editor in 1998.

Sumathipala, who denies involvement with Amarasinghe, was sacked by Sri Lankan sports minister in March 2000 over alleged irregularities in awarding contracts to build a new cricket stadium. However, the allegations were not proven and he was elected for a third term as president in June 2003.-PPI