The leaders of a extremist Sinhala Buddhist organisation claimed that the chairman of telecommunications company Lycamobile funded the LTTE and is now looking to take over Sri Lankan media channels, at a press conference in Colombo this weekend.
The national organiser of Sinha Le, an organisation linked to hate speech and racist attacks, claimed that Allirajah Subaskaran, the Tamil founder of Lycamobile, funded the LTTE during the armed conflict. Pradeep Sanjeewa went on to claim that Subaskaran has been channelling money to the island through Alex Lovell, the Chairman of Ben Holdings, in order to take over Sri Lankan media channels.
General Secretary of Sinha Le Madille Pagnaloka claimed that the Tamil diaspora was attempting to corrupt local Sri Lankan media, and even claimed the former UNP parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera had been collaborating with them.
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Lycamobile was previously reported to have links to the ruling Rajapaksa family.
According to Corporate Watch, Hastings Trading e Serviços Lda, a company owned by the Lyca Group, bought a 95% share in a dormant firm registered with Rajapaksa's nephew, Himal Lalindra Hettiarachchi as reported by the Sunday Leader in 2009. The company went on to receive a key license to operate cutting-edge wireless broadband frequencies in Sri Lanka, forcing the state-owned telecoms company to merge.
