Uvatanne Sumana Thera, who was granted Presidential pardon on Monday, was released due to the intervention of MP Diana Gamage and her partner Senaka De Silva, informed government sources told Asian Mirror.

Gamage, who was appointed to Parliament as a national list MP by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, crossed over to the ruling party during the vote on the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.

Sumana Thera and De Silva are close allies who worked together in the presidential campaign of Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka in 2010.

The monk who was the chief incumbent of the Bodhirukkaramaya, Maligakanda, was charged under the Explosives Ordinance for being in possession of two T-56 automatic weapons and 200 bullets. The cache of arms was found at the temple during a raid in 2010. The raid was carried out in the run up to the 2010 presidential election.

Uvatanne Sumana Thera was also known to be a politically active monk.