{"id":82151,"date":"2018-10-20T13:38:17","date_gmt":"2018-10-20T20:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=82151"},"modified":"2018-10-20T13:38:17","modified_gmt":"2018-10-20T20:38:17","slug":"sirisenas-aides-want-swift-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/10\/20\/sirisenas-aides-want-swift-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"Sirisena\u2019s aides want swift probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meera Srinivasan\u00a0Courtesy The Hindu<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Call alleged assassination plot \u2018serious\u2019<\/h2>\n
\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s investigation authorities must expedite their probe into the alleged assassination plot targeting President Maithripala Sirisena, his advisers have said, terming it a very serious matter\u201d.<\/p>\n

Addressing media persons here, presidential adviser Shiral Lakthilaka said Mr. Sirisena\u2019s security has been heightened, following reports of an attempt to assassinate him.<\/p>\n

Local questioned<\/h2>\n

We hear of a foreign national linked to the case,\u201d he said, referring to an Indian arrested last month, in addition to a local who was questioned on the said plot.<\/p>\n

However, authorities had said the Indian was mentally disturbed\u201d.<\/p>\n

In that case, he should be subjected to a medical examination and the results must be produced in court,\u201d Mr. Lakthilaka said at a press briefing on Thursday. We are very concerned,\u201d he added, urging investigators to look into all aspects of the case with utmost seriousness\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Did not name RAW\u2019<\/h2>\n

Denying recent media reports \u2014 including\u00a0The Hindu<\/em>\u2019s \u2014 on the President alleging that India\u2019s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was plotting his assassination, the adviser clarified that Mr. Sirisena had told the Cabinet of local media reports of an Indian intelligence agency being involved, but he did not name it\u201d. Earlier, the Sri Lankan government too termed the news reports baseless and false\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samrasinghe, from the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) led by Mr. Sirisena, in a separate media briefing on Thursday, said that the Ministers who leaked the RAW canard\u201d must be exposed, the local newspaper\u00a0Daily Mirror\u00a0<\/em>reported.<\/p>\n

PM\u2019s visit to India<\/h2>\n

The developments come even as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe departed for New Delhi on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wickremesinghe will have lunch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, after meetings scheduled with the Indian Home and External Affairs Ministers,\u00a0The Hindu<\/em>\u00a0has learnt.<\/p>\n

India-assisted development projects are expected to figure in the discussions. Mr. Wickremesinghe is accompanied by Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama; Minister of Youth Affairs, Project Management and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayaka and Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meera Srinivasan\u00a0Courtesy The Hindu Call alleged assassination plot \u2018serious\u2019 Sri Lanka\u2019s investigation authorities must expedite their probe into the alleged assassination plot targeting President Maithripala Sirisena, his advisers have said, terming it a very serious matter\u201d. Addressing media persons here, presidential adviser Shiral Lakthilaka said Mr. Sirisena\u2019s security has been heightened, following reports of an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}