Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha members today charged that Minister Mervyn Silva was terrorising the area after being appointed as the organiser for Kelaniya. Silva has opened a party office in the Kelaniya area, and party members say there is a presence and potential for violence stemming from the minister’s close associates.
Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Prasanna Ranaweera addressing a press conference at the PS office in Kelaniya said the lives of the 16 PS members who oppose the views of Silva are in danger.
“Even on Tuesday night, eight individuals came to the Pradeshiya Sabha office and harassed those who were there,” Ranaweera said, adding that the staffers fear for their lives.
He also alleged that the Kiribathgoda police are acting according to the whims and fancies of the minister.
“Our family members have been questioned and detained in the police station, and even after we bail them out the Police continue to harass us,” Ranaweera said.
Ranaweera said that he will inform the Secretary of Defence and the Inspector General of Police about the matter, and added that if a wrongdoing has been done, they are willing to face the legal consequences.
“We have complete faith in the party for an investigation to be held independently, and we hope a verdict will be given very soon,” he said.
“We only have issues with one terrorising individual,” he added.
“We will give our life to the party, our president, or the people of Kelaniya, but we will not accept this man as the organiser,” he said.
Camelia Nathaniel
CT