By Norman Palihawadana Dasun Edirisinghe
Former General Secretary of the United National party and Health Minister of the ex-UPFA government Tissa Attanayake was taken into custody by the CID around noon yesterday over charges of producing an allegedly false document against then Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and Opposition presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena.
After the crossover
Later he was produced before the Colombo Fort magistrate Court and remanded till Feb. 11 for further investigations after the CID informed the court that they had obtained the report of the Government Analyst and they had evidence that the document shown by him (Attanayake) to the media before the Presidential Election was forged.
A senior police officer said Attanayake had been arrested on a charge that he had forged the signatures of Sirisena and Wickremesinghe after preparing a document claiming that to be a secret pact between the UNP leader and alliance led by Sirisena in the run-up to the Jan. 08 presidential election.
Attanayake had repeatedly claimed that the duo were signatories to the document and even held news conferences to gain political mileage, said Disaster Management, Law and Order and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunge.
Wickremesinghe complained to the Criminal Investigations Department and the CID recorded statements from Wickremesinghe and Attanayake before the presidential election, Amaratunge said.
Soon after breaking ranks with the UNP and announcing support for UPFA Presidential Candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa, Attanayake, accompanied by SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and North Western Province Chief Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera, made public the purported secret pact between Wickremesinghe and Sirisena at a news conference held at the SLFP headquarters at Darley road, Colombo.
According to Attanayake statement on December 22, 2014, the UNP and Opposition common candidate Maithripala Sirisena had, in an undisclosed pact signed on Nov. 1, 2014, agreed to implement all UNHRC recommendations as regards Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes and fully cooperate with the international community for that purpose.
Attanayake alleged that he had a copy of the secret agreement. According to the purported secret deal, the UNP and Sirisena had also agreed to reduce the number of troops stationed in the North by 50 percent and dismantle all High Security Zones and return the lands to their owners.
Attanayake alleged that Sirisena was trying to please international elements and, therefore, willing to sacrifice the safety of the armed Forces, to help him win the election.
However, UNP leader Wickremesinghe and then Presidential Candidate Sirisena declared that their two signatures in the document presented by Attanayake’s were forged and complained to the CID.
Courtesy: The Island