World

Sri Lanka boosts leader’s security over alleged death plot

October 18, 2018
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena gestures as he speaks during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, in this March 23, 2017 file photo. — Reuters
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena gestures as he speaks during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, in this March 23, 2017 file photo. — Reuters

COLOMBO — Security for Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has been stepped up following the discovery of an alleged plot to assassinate him, two of his advisers said on Thursday.

An Indian national, named by Indian and Sri Lankan media as M. Thomas from the southern state of Kerala, was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the plot on Sept. 22. Former Sri Lankan defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was also a target, a police officer said.

“The president is very serious about this,” Shiral Lakthialaka, one of the advisers, told reporters in Colombo.

“People in charge have taken measures to strengthen his security. Certainly his security has been beefed up. We need a broad investigation into this.”

The alleged plot first emerged in late September after a police informant called Namal Kumara published a telephone recording between him and a senior police officer where he said there was a plan to kill Sirisena.

It is not clear whether there are any other individuals that are alleged to be involved.

The plot briefly threatened to cause tension between Sri Lanka and its much larger neighbor India, after a report that Sirisena had accused India’s intelligence services of involvement — a claim that New Delhi and Colombo have both denied.

India’s The Hindu newspaper said on Tuesday that Sirisena had accused India’s intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of being involved in the plot.

Both Sirisena’s office and Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry have denied he made the comments.

The office of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement on Wednesday that Sirisena had called him to say the allegation he had accused RAW were “utterly baseless and false”.

A coalition between Sirisena’s center-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s center-right United National Party (UNP) has grown increasingly strained in recent months.

Both coalition partners suffered heavy defeats in local elections in February, and Sirisena loyalists backed a no-confidence motion in April against the prime minister, who survived after a majority of legislators voted to support his coalition government. — Reuters


October 18, 2018
120 views
HIGHLIGHTS
World
hour ago

Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

World
hour ago

Jacob Zuma barred from running in South Africa elections

World
5 hours ago

India opposition leader Kejriwal to remain in jail in corruption case