He was sentenced over the case filed against him for threatening several UNP Parliamentarians with a pistol during their visit to the Hambantota Harbour on April 17, 2014.
The Hambantota Mayor had gained notoriety when he chased away UNP MPs who were conducting an inspection tour to Mattala Airport and Hambantota Port while brandishing a firearm, which he had later claimed was a ‘toy gun’.
Five suspects including the Mayor were charged over the incident, famously dubbed as the “Toy Pistol” case.
Eraj Fernando, Premasiri Parnamana, Tuan Ramzan, Madusha Nilan and Bindu Sri Warnasinghe were charged on 29 counts for attacking on a team from Colombo including UNP MPs Ajith P. Perera, Ajith Mannapperuma, Nalin Bandara, Eran Wickremaratne and R. Yogarajan, who were on an inspection tour of the South.
As they were leaving the Hambantota Port Complex, stones and eggs were also hurled at them by the political supporters.
Fernando was re-elected as the Mayor of the Hambantota Municipal Council at the 2018 Local Authorities Election after contesting from the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
