PM calls IGP over Kotahena shooting

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday that he had called for a full investigation into the Kotahena shooting that killed two UNP supporters last Friday (31).

“I called the IGP about the Mattakkuliya shooting,” Wickremesinghe said during an election rally yesterday. The Prime Minister said he had instructed the top cop to launch a full-fledged investigation into the shootings.

“I asked him to find out whether the underworld was involved or what exactly has transpired and submit a report on the incident,” the Prime Minister said.

“I will not allow anyone in the UNP to be involved in any of these things,” Wickremesinghe insisted.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said that the Kotahena shooting did not appear to be a political incident but infighting between two groups. Speaking at the cabinet briefing yesterday, Senaratne said that it was a remarkable highlight of this election campaign that most incidents of violence were being recorded against campaign offices and meetings of the Government faction. 

“This is what good governance is all about, it is the Government campaign that is being attacked, not the 

Opposition campaign,” Senaratne said.