A Sri Lankan police intelligence officer pointed his gun to Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam after he was attacked during a meeting in Maruthankerny.
Ponnambalam was at a meeting with a sports club in Maruthankerny earlier today where two unknown men were in the crowd.
While the organisers were trying to verify everyone’s identity at the meeting, the two men refused to provide their details which resulted in an argument.
Video of Ponnambalam describing the incident
Ponnambalam then intervened saying he has parliamentary privilege and required their identification. However, the two men failed to identify themselves and attempted to run away.
When Ponnambalam tried to stop one of the men, he hit the TNPF leader before running away while the other man was caught and apprehended by the crowd.
Another police intelligence officer who was standing in the adjoining school grounds, then pointed a gun towards Ponnambalam. The sports club members yelled out, causing the gun wielder to leave the scene.
Point Pedro police sub inspector Jayatissa came to the site of the incident and told the crowd to release the apprehended individual and told them that he was a state intelligence officer.
Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, Ponnambalam said that when he requested the attacker and gun wielder to be arrested, Jayatissa was verbally abusive in Sinhala to him.
The crowd also demanded police to identify and arrest the other individual who attacked Ponnambalam. The police stated that they will take action.
