Govt. hatching plot to arrest GR, Salley over Easter Sunday attacks: Gammanpila

• Claims Govt. writing new script to keep political pledges to expose  mastermind behind Easter Sunday attacks
• Accuses Maulana’s travel ban was lifted arbitrarily
• Claims Govt. wants to put blame on State’s intelligence services for Easter Sunday attacks
• Says Maulana sought political asylum to escape from two fake marriages 
• Throws seven questions at Govt.

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) Leader Udaya Gammanpila yesterday revealed a secret plot allegedly hatched by the National People’s Power (NPP) Government to arrest former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Chief Maj. Gen. Suresh Salley over the Easter Sunday attacks.

During a media conference he accused the Government of writing a new script to create a mastermind behind the Easter attacks to fulfil its election promise given during elections.

“This will be done through recording a statement from Asad Maulana whom Channel 4 had introduced as a whistle-blower in its documentary on the Easter Sunday attack. To arrest former President Rajapaksa and Maj. Gen. Salley, a statement from Maulana is required but since there is a travel ban, he cannot come to Sri Lanka to give that statement. Therefore, according to our information, the Government has decided to lift the travel ban and bring Maulana to Sri Lanka and make him make a statement before a magistrate under Section 127 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” Gammanpila stressed.

He said that it was a well-known fact that the NPP Government came to power promising that they would expose the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks, but now they want to hide the real culprits of the attacks, who were in the Government. “It is surprising as to why the Government intends to bring Maulana to the country, lifting his travel ban, while the accusation made by Channel 4 that Sri Lanka’s intelligence agencies, including Maj. Gen. Salley, are behind the Easter attacks, was very logically refuted by the Imam report prepared by a former Supreme Court judge, a former Air Force Commander, and a President’s Counsel,” he said, adding that the Government wants to establish the myth that the Easter Sunday attacks were carried out by Sri Lankan intelligence agencies to bring former President Rajapaksa to power.

Gammanpila said Maulana, who lied in the Channel 4 video claiming that the Easter Sunday attacks were masterminded by Sri Lankan intelligence agencies, was today facing a double blow as he was accused of faking two marriages and fled to Switzerland seeking political asylum to save his life from both wives.

Following a court Case No. B/811/2023, the Kalmunai Magistrate’s Court imposed an immediate travel ban on Maulana following his second wife’s complaint to the Saindamardu Police. The second wife came to know that she had married Maulana after seeing the Channel 4 video and found that he had married her under a false name.

“We have information that a top person in this Government has instructed to lift the travel ban on Maulana to facilitate him to give his statement against the intelligence agencies, including Maj. Gen. Suresh Salley, before a magistrate under Section 127 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” he revealed.

The Leader of the PHU further said that the Saindamardu Police have been instructed by a key person in the Government not to oppose when Maulana’s lawyer presents his case to the Court to lift the travel ban.

“According to the information I have, a senior Police officer in the Ampara area has arranged this lawyer. Even if I get the name of that officer, I will not mention his name because I do not have any evidence to prove it. Accordingly, on 21 January, Maulana’s travel ban was lifted without any objection from the Police. The Police officers complained to the Police, fearing that this illegal act would cause problems in the future. Although the Police tried to take a statement from his second wife, Fatima Jesli Benazir, she has refused. The Police officers who were frightened by this, recorded a statement from Fatima and stored it in the Divisional Crime Detective Bureau (DCDB),” he explained.

According to Gammanpila, there is an allegation that Maulana has purchased a luxury house in Span Tower, Dehiwala, in his name and it is alleged that the house was purchased using the money received from supporting terrorist activities; therefore, he must be questioned about money laundering. Meanwhile, Gammanpila threw seven questions at the Government Media Spokesperson Media Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa and Inspector General of Police and Police Media Spokesperson and demanded answers to find the real mastermind of the Easter Sunday attacks. He asked under whose influence was the travel ban on Azad Maulana, which was obtained to pursue a case in the Kalmunai Magistrate’s Court, lifted? In whose interest did the Police pressure Maulana to withdraw the complaint filed by Fatima Jesli Benazir against him? Is a recorded statement obtained from Fatima Benazir that the Police were pressuring her recorded in the Ampara Police DCDB? Will the Police question Maulana about introducing Safraz Mohamed Sufian, who treated Zahran’s brother Rilwan, to Rilwan? Will Maulana be produced before the Kalmunai Magistrate’s Court for the case under Case No. B/811/2023 of the Kalmunai Magistrate’s Court for fraudulently marrying Fatima Benazir under a false name? Will Maulana be questioned under the Money Laundering Act regarding the allegation that a luxury house in the Span Tower in Dehiwala was purchased in his name bearing the cheque number 074986 of the Standard Chartered Bank? And is the ‘Maulana Nadagama’, which has been confirmed as a lie by a Presidential Investigation Committee, hoping to be re-enacted to deceive the people once again in the by-election?