A leading Sri Lankan Muslim politician was arrested on Thursday by the police Criminal Investigations Department (CID), police said.

Muslim Tamil National Alliance leader and former member of the Colombo Municipal Council, Azath Salley, was arrested at his home outside Colombo over some complaints lodged with the CID, police media spokesman Budhika Siriwardena said.

Salley had earlier gone into hiding in view of fears of being arrested over some public comments he had made recently.

In March police officers had gone to his house to arrest him and he had then been bailed out through his lawyers.

Also in March the police had issued summons on Salley to appear at the police crimes division office but he failed to appear.

At the time he suspected the summons may have had something to do with a letter he sent to the UN regarding attempts to suppress Muslims in the country.

In the letter sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Salley had said that radical members of the Buddhist clergy were taking the law into their hands, with the enforcers of the law watching on the sidelines.

Salley urged the UN to bring to the Sri Lankan government's attention the international standards relevant to the protection and promotion of the rights of minorities.