United National Party (UNP) General Secretary Thalatha Athukorala has addressed the controversy surrounding former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s attempt to contact Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, widely known as Pillayan, who is currently in custody at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Speaking to reporters in Kegalle yesterday, Athukorala explained that Pillayan had previously served as a minister under Wickremesinghe’s administration. She stated that the former President’s interest in making contact stemmed from his responsibility to inquire about the sudden arrest of a former member of his cabinet.
“Pillayan was an aide to Ranil Wickremesinghe and served as a minister in his government. As a former head of state, he simply took the responsible step of checking on someone who had worked under his leadership,” she said.
Dismissing claims of any hidden motive, Athukorala asserted, “There is nothing to hide here. They brought up Batalanda in the past, now they’re talking about this phone call. Next, they’ll want to record statements about what he said about Chamara Sampath Dassanayake. We are ready to face all of this. We don’t hide anything — we cannot and we will not.”
She made these remarks in response to journalists questioning Wickremesinghe’s request to speak with Pillayan by phone following his arrest.
The request, however, was denied. Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala later clarified that the call was rejected on legal grounds, as detainees held under investigation cannot be contacted by phone, especially under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
Pillayan was arrested by the CID on April 9 and is currently being detained under the PTA in connection with the alleged abduction and disappearance of a former Vice-Chancellor of the Eastern University.
