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JVP demands IGP clarify Arundika’s ‘JVP arrests’ claim

20 May 2022

  • Asks if IGP conducted probe into political affiliations
  • Requests IGP to divulge other arrestees’ affiliations
BY SAFRAH FAZAL In a letter addressed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) inquired if the Police conducted an investigation with regard to the political affiliations of those that were arrested in relation to the 9 May violence that led him to claim that 150 persons of the 450 arrested were affiliated with the JVP, as claimed by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Arundika Fernando, and urged him to divulge the political affiliations of all those who were arrested if such an investigation had indeed taken place. “MP Arundika Fernando stated that he had contacted the IGP, who stated that 150 members of the JVP were among the 450 people arrested in connection with the violence. If you provided such information to MP Arundika Fernando, we would like to know whether you have made a special investigation into the political affiliations of those arrested in this regard.  If so, we ask that you produce before the country the political affiliations of all those who were arrested,” JVP Information Secretary Vijitha Herath noted in the letter. In Parliament on Wednesday (18), while the JVP-led National Peoples’ Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka was addressing the accusations by Fernando, who spoke prior, blaming the JVP for the 9 May attacks on MPs, Fernando interrupted the address to inform him that he had just had a phone call with the IGP who notified him that of the approximately 400 arrests made, 150 were from the JVP. Fernando further charged that although the JVP leaders may not have directly carried out the attacks, the attacks were carried out by provincial members of the party on a village level. However, when Dissanayaka requested evidence from Fernando in Parliament, the latter was unable to produce any proof of his claims. “When no formal investigation was carried out with regard to the political background of those arrested, and there is no evidence or basis for these accusatory statements, such allegations are extremely serious. As a party that strongly stands for democracy, we expect a swift explanation from the IGP,” the letter read. Following a meeting with former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, a group of SLPP supporters attacked the “MynaGoGama” and “GotaGoGama” protest sites in front of the Temple Trees and at the Galle Face, respectively, on 9 May. As a result, tense situations erupted in several parts of the country that led to at least 74 politicians’ houses, vehicles, and properties being damaged.  Arrests are still being made in connection with the incident.


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