Lanka to probe alleged assassination plot against Prez Sirisena

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has asked for a report on an alleged plot to assassinate President Maithripala Sirisena.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the premier has asked police chief Pujith Jayasundera to give him a report on the matter.

Nalaka de Silva, a deputy inspector general in charge of the police's anti-terrorism unit, was accused of a plot to kill Sirisena and former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa by an organisation called Anti-Corruption Force (ACF) at a media conference in the central town of Kandy on Wednesday.

The organisation charged that the senior policeman had divulged the plot to ACF's Namal Kumara that Sirisena and Gotabhaya, brother of ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, should be assassinated given the likelihood of them joining forces politically for the 2020 presidential election.

Police chief Jayasundera said on Thursday that de Silva has been subject to an inquiry over the allegations.

The police spokesman said the CID has been told to carry out a thorough investigation.