Probe on alleged plot to throw acid at Speaker

Police are probing an alleged plot to throw acid at Speaker Karu Jayasuriya during the commotion in the well of Parliament on November 16, a top parliamentary source said yesterday. Speaker Jayasuriya was informed of the event and he took additional precautions when he was escorted into the well of the House by a group of policemen, the source said. Asked for his response, Mr Jayasuriya said, "I do not want to comment on that since investigations are under way."

He said there were also investigations into two other incidents -- the alleged wielding of knives by MPs Palitha Thevarapperuma and Ranjan Ramanayake. The other, he said, is the throwing of red chilli water on policemen. This hit some MPs too.

The source said information reached Speaker Jayasuriya when officials associated with the resumption of Parliament sittings were making preparations. Around 1.25 p.m., just five minutes before the Speaker was to leave for the well of the House, he had been told that a group of MPs had taken his chair away and blocked the table. They had also closed the entrance.

"An alternative plan was worked out. The Speaker, escorted by a cordon of policemen, was to enter through a side door," the source said. Just then, a person in robes had come over to the area and had been making a phone call when the Speaker was leaving his office.

It has now come to light that the call had been made to an MP who was in the forefront of blocking Speaker's sitting area. That was a signal to get ready to cause commotion, the top official said.