Sri Lanka’s president has stepped up his personal security after he claimed there had been an alleged plot to assassinate him and Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
“The president is very serious about this,” Shiral Lakthialaka, one of Maithripala Sirisena’s advisers, told reporters in Colombo.
“People in charge have taken measures to strengthen his security. Certainly his security has been beefed up. We need a broad investigation into this.”
The step up in security comes after reports that the Sri Lankan president told his cabinet ministers that India’s intelligence services were involved in the plot to kill him. Though he later issued a statement denying these reports, The Hindu said at least four cabinet ministers had confirmed Sirisena’s remarks.