Police confirm arrested army corporal was carrying gun and not a water bottle

Police spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara yesterday confirmed that the army corporal, who accompanied MP Namal Rajapaksa to a Hambantota meeting which was addressed by President Maithripala Sirisena, was carrying a 9 mm pistol and not a water bottle.

Following that incident on 25 April, the soldier who was holding the pistol, army commando Cpl. Senaka Kumara, was arrested and later released. 

“It has been clearly identified that it was firearm and not a water bottle and the Hambantota MP has not been questioned regarding this matter so far,” the police spokesman said.

Gunasekara added that an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) had allowed the corporal to enter the location armed with the gun and that the police’s Special Task Force (STF) personnel who had witnessed this alerted the Presidential Security Division (PSD).

“It was wrong of the PSD to have released the suspect, who was subsequently arrested by the CID on 2 May. However, investigations are also being conducted on the suspicion that the corporal was in possession of two firearms. Nevertheless, the ASP who had allowed the suspect to enter event has been transferred,” he said.