A Sri Lankan court has granted authorities permission to ask Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei to recover data from a mobile phone, allegedly used as part of a reported “assassination plot” against Sri Lanka’s current president Maithripala Sirisena and former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department said that they needed the Chinese manufacturer’s assistance in recovering data that had been deleted from the mobile phone of a police informant.
Sirisena has reportedly ramped up his security detail following coverage of the alleged plot, which briefly stirred tensions with neighbouring India after the Sri Lankan president reportedly told cabinet ministers Indian intelligence services had a role to play in the attempt.
However the next day, the Sri Lankan president denied the reports and called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to say there had been false reports of his accusations. The Hindu, which originally broke the story of Sirisena’s comments to cabinet, stood by their report.
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