General Sarath Fonseka, the defeated candidate in Sri Lanka's recent presidential election, was arrested by military police at his Colombo residence Monday night. The government said that Fonseka, the former Army commander, had been arrested on charges of "committing military offenses," but offered no details. Lakshman Hulugalle, Director General of the Media Centre for National Security, told state TV that Fonseka will be court martialed. No date was given for any possible court appearance.

The government has previously accused Fonseka of organizing a coup and planning to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa and two of his brothers, Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and member of parliament Basil Rajapaksa. Fonseka, who was once a powerful ally of Rajapaksa, led the military campaign that defeated the Tamil separatist insurgency last May. Soon after, he was named Chief of Defende Staff -- a move that sidelined him, and left him without any effective command. Fonseka later fell out with the Rajapaksa government, and put himself forward as the opposition candidate in last month's elections.

Despite predictions that the contest would be a close one, Rajapaksa won by a comfortable 1.8 million votes. But Fonseka did not go quietly. He has accused the government of harassment after the defeat, and was meeting with opposition political leaders when the military police arrived at his house Monday night. Witnesses at the scene told TIME that Fonseka had informed the military that he wanted police to be present when the arrest was made, but despite his protests, he was taken away by military police.