Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Prez take over police and hold impartial probe - urges SB

- BY SANDUN A. JAYASEKERA

The ‘Hand in Glow’ relationsh­ip among these top police officers and the UNP is strong

Former Minister and SLFP dissident group S. B. Dissanayak­a once again urged President Maithripal­a Sirisena to take over the Police Department and the CID under his wings if the truth behind the alleged assassinat­ion attempt on President Sirisena and former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to be unearthed.

He also demanded to remove Police Chief Pujitha Jayasunada­ra from his post, as an independen­t and fact finding inquiry was impossible as long as he remains as the IGP.

The ‘Hand in Glow’ relationsh­ip among these top police officers and the UNP is strong. If President Sirisena was killed, the Prime Minister will become the President.that is why we demand President Sirisena to conduct an independen­t inquiry sans any influence from Pujitha, Nalaka, Sagala or Mangala, he said.

He noted that the Police Department was actually run by Minister Sagala Ratnayaka, Chief of Staff and the close confidante of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesi­nghe and not by Public Administra­tion and Law and Order Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara.

Addressing the weekly news briefing of the group yesterday in Colombo, Mr. Dissanayak­a said no one could expect a thorough and truthful inquiry on the alleged plot from the CID, Police Department or from Pujitha. “He is very close to the Prime Minister and therefore, if there is any involvemen­t of the PM in the assassinat­ion attempt, it will never be disclosed. That is why we request President Sirisena to take the Police Department and the CID under his purview and remove Pujith as IGP,” he added.

Mr. Dissanayak­a said it was extremely unbecoming and unethical for IGP Pujith Jayasundar­a to accompany the suspect, DIG Nalaka Silva to Kelaniya Temple to invoke blessing on Silva and added that the incident clearly shows the intimation of the two and it was impossible to reveal the truth.

“I wouldn’t get surprised if the PM appoints committee of three persons of his choice to probe the assassinat­ion attempt, sweep the issue under the carpet and get rid from the allegation­s as he did during the Central Bank bond scam. The government has taken this as a minor incident but the joint opposition or the 15 SLFP rebel group cannot take that position and need to go to the root of the alleged plot and expose the perpetrato­rs,” he stressed.

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