State minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan yesterday (06) responded in parliament to allegations of is involvement in the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.
Britain’s Channel 4 released a video claiming that its dispatches have exclusive interviews with high-placed whistleblowers who allege that some Sri Lankan government officials were complicit in the bombings.
Among the whistleblowers is Azad Maulana, the former spokesman of the TMVP, Pillayan’s political party.
Appearing in the Channel 4 video, Maulana alleged that a meeting took place between Easter Sunday bomber Zahran Hashim and the head of the State Intelligence Service Suresh Sallay in the East, adding that he himself was present at the time of the meeting.
Commenting on the revelation, Pillayan denied any links to the Easter Sunday attacks or the bombers saying such allegations are baseless.
He accused his former spokesman of telling lies in order to strengthen his claim for asylum overseas.
The state minister said Maulana had officially informed the TMVP and left Sri Lanka over a year ago along with his family over personal issues.
Stating that Channel 4 has caused grave harm to Sri Lanka via its videos in the past as well, Pillayan said he has nothing to fear over the recently released documentary.
He said that he has doubts that Maulana was attempting to safeguard religious, political, and social forces that had links to the attackers.
He claimed that these allegations could be considered attempts by certain factions to destroy his party’s presence in the East.
He called for international assistance to investigate not only the allegations revealed in the Channel 4 video, but also investigate Maulana over his claims.
