SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa has responded to claims made before the Fort Magistrate’s Court today (20) regarding alleged meetings with former TMVP leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias “Pillayan” following the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

The remarks were made by Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris during court proceedings when former State Intelligence Service Director Suresh Sallay was produced before court.

According to submissions made before court, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa, and Namal Rajapaksa had allegedly visited Pillayan at the Batticaloa Prison after the Easter attacks and informed him that he would be released within a week of Gotabaya Rajapaksa becoming President.

The ASG further alleged that after Gotabaya Rajapaksa assumed office, Suresh Sallay, who had previously served as the Head of Military Intelligence, was appointed as the head of the State Intelligence Service in order to prevent intelligence information from reaching other divisions.

Responding to the allegations in a statement posted on ‘X’, Namal Rajapaksa acknowledged that he had visited Pillayan while he was in prison during 2018/19, stating that prison records regarding the visits were publicly available.

“It is no secret that I visited TMVP leader Sivasathurai Chandrakanthan, also known as Pillayan, while he was in prison in 2018/19. In fact, prison records of my visits are very much available,” he stated.

Rajapaksa said that at the time, Pillayan was part of the political alliance contesting both the 2015 Presidential Election and the 2018 Local Government Elections.

He also questioned the Government’s priorities, referring to reports that CID officers had travelled to France as part of investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks.

“Purportedly the CID travelled all the way to France to investigate the Easter attack. If officers travelled all that way simply to confirm my visit to Pillayan, then it is clearly a waste of public funds,” he said.

Rajapaksa further claimed that Pillayan was not currently being detained in connection with the Easter attacks and accused the Government of attempting to create a political spectacle through the investigation.

He also stated that the National People’s Power Government had presented “different narratives” about the Easter attacks at different times and stressed that victims and their families deserved “genuine answers and justice.”

“We are ready to face any fair inquiry and will cooperate fully with the CID to clear any doubts openly and transparently,” Rajapaksa added.