The state witness for the prosecution in the trial in connection with the murder of former TNA Jaffna district MP Nadaraja Raviraj yesterday affirmed Court that the officers attached to the Naval intelligence camp in Laundry Watta in Gangaramaya conspired to commit the murder of Raviraj. Witness Wijeya Wickrema Manamperige Sanjaya Preethi Viraj who was made a state witness for the Raviraj murder trial made this revelation before Colombo Additional Magistrate Thilina Gamage.

Three statements he had earlier given to police were yesterday read out before Court and he confirmed the truthfulness of his earlier statements. He admitted that he saw the former MP being shot by the remanded suspect Gamini Seneviratne at Manning Town in Narahenpita. The state witness stated that he received instructions to be accompanied with the gunman on a motorcycle and to kill an LTTE member.

He said he rode the motorcycle alone with the gunman. The state witness admitted that until the shooting that took place in Narahenpita, he was not aware about the person who was going to be killed. The state witness said he had served as a police constable in the Batticaloa district and engaged in military operations against LTTE. He said he got to know several persons including Lieutenant Prasath, Gamini Seneviratne and Navy Sampath who were involved in this incident, while he was in Batticaloa.

He further affirmed that he met several other suspects including Charan, Palana Sami Suresh and Fabian Royston Tusen when he was at the Naval intelligence camp in Laundry Watta. Further magisterial inquiry fixed for January 13. The CID filed charge sheets in Court against seven accused including four Navy personnel, two ex-LTTE cadres affiliated to the Karuna faction for allegedly conspiring to commit the murder of the former TNA MP.

The Attorney General had given instructions to conduct a non-summary inquiry in respect of the seven accused namely Palana Sami Suresh, Hettiarachchilage Prasath Chandana Kumara, Gamini Seneviratne, Pradeep Chaminda, Sivakanthan Vivekanandan alias Charan, Fabian Royston Tusen and Sampath Munasinghe. Parliamentarian Raviraj was shot dead near his residence at Manning Town in Narahenpita in 2006 when his vehicle was being driven by Raviraj along Martha Road. The CID had recovered the trishaw and the weapon allegedly used in the killing of the former parliamentarian.

For the first time in Sri Lanka, the government is to establish a mechanism to supervise and advice ministries in the implementation of policies, a source said.

A tense situation was reported at the UNP party headquarters in Sirikotha when a group of UNP supporters arrived to hand over a document on reviving the party.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Harsha de Silva said today that an NPP MP has told him that the Parliament canteen will not be closed but the government will see that no one will abuse the facility.

Two fishermen were seriously injured and hospitalised after a parcel floating on the sea exploded while they were checking it off the coast of Mannar.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) and the Examinations Department have initiated a joint programme to mitigate potential disasters during the 2024 Advanced Level examinations.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake addressed the inaugural session of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka today. Following are 11 key points from the President’s Government Policy Statement;

Speaker Dr. Ashoka Sapumal Ranwala informed Parliament that nomination of Sajith Premadasa, leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), has been accepted as the Opposition Leader of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Jaffna District Independent MP Archuuna Ramanathan refused to move away after he sat on the Opposition Leader's seat inside the chambers despite requests by Parliament staff to move.

National People's Power (NPP) Gampaha MP Dr. Ashoka Sapumal Ranwala was elected as the Speaker of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka a short while ago. Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya proposed his name, and the nomination was confirmed by Vijitha Herath.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake adjourned the Sri Lankan Parliament until 9:30 a.m. on December 3. The adjournment followed the President’s delivery of the government’s policy statement during the inaugural session of the 10th Parliament earlier today.