PHU claims Marapana was forced to resign

By Chamodi Gunawardana

The Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) yesterday claimed that Law and Order Minister Tilak Marapana was pressured by the the United National Party (UNP) to resign.

Marapana announced his resignation yesterday by holding an urgent media briefing.

PHU Leader and MP Udaya Gammanpila said the UNP has been hurt because of the statement made by Marapana regarding the similarity of Avant Garde vessel and millennium city incident.

“He stated that the Police had raided the ship to score points and it was similar to the revealing of millennium city state intelligence agencies in 2002. That the first time a UNP official publicly concurred it was a fault,” Gammanpila asserted.

“Marapana was forced by the UNP to withdraw his statement, but he did not. Finally he lost his portfolio,” Gammanpila claimed.

Commenting over the Government’s suggestion to release LTTE prisoners, he charged that there are two dangerous LTTEers among them, who engaged with the suicide attacks planned to kill Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and the former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

“The Government to release around 217 LTTE prisoners comprised of 50 culprits, 120 accusers and 47 suspects, while reputable army personnel have been summoned by the the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) daily,” Gammanpila alleged.

He further charged the Government wanted to fulfill the aspirations of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) by releasing such kind of dangerous LTTE prisoners.