The death of the British Tamil political prisoner Visvalingam Gopithas was due to a heart attack, Sri Lanka’s Department of Prisons claimed.

Commissioner General of Prisons, Chandraratne Pallegama said that the inmate had fallen ill yesterday morning and died shortly after being admitted to the prison hospital.

Fellow inmates had previously expressed their suspicions surrounding the circumstances of his death, reported the Uthayan on Monday.

80 bodies have been unearthed from the Mannar mass grave so far, following the 31st excavation, reported both the Uthayan and AFP.

Judicial medical officer Dhananjaya Waidyaratne told reporters,

Sajith Premadasa, MP for the Hambantota district, said he was ready to do anything to protect the ‘war heroes’ that had liberated Sri Lanka from ‘terrorism’ if there was an international conspiracy against them.

However he said that he would not support the ‘corrupt government’, which was involved in the trafficking of heroin in Sri Lanka, reported The Island.

The AIADMK, headed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, has called for a referendum on the island of Sri Lanka to establish a separate state in their manifesto for the upcoming general elections in India.

Reiterating the AIADMK stand, calling for justice for the victims of genocide, the manifesto stated,

The brother of Visvalingam Gopithas, who died in a Sri Lankan prison yesterday, has accused the prison authorities of mistreating him, saying he did not receive adequate food and medical attention, reported the BBC.

Gopithas died in Welikada Prison yesterday, after spending 8 years in the prison. The British Tamil was held without charge for 5 years since 2007, before being convicted of providing support to the LTTE in 2012, a charge he always denied.

A special prayer service was held for victims of the Mannar mass grave earlier this week, as dozens came to mourn and pray in remembrance.

Human rights organisations have condemned the appointment of a former Sri Lankan military commander as the acting operations manager of the Manus Island detention centre, where asylum seekers who arrive in mainland Australia are sent to.

Amnesty International India has labelled the ban on the documentary ‘No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka’ from theatrical release in India “an attack on freedom of speech” in a series of tweets yesterday.

The human rights organisation went on to slam the decision as one that as one that “hurts Indian democracy” and said,

“Is India trying to stifle the movement for justice in Sri Lanka by banning it?”

An Australian company, specialising in the manufacture of solar panels, will set up a factory in Hambantota for $190mn.

Energy Puzzle Group will create 150 jobs in the hometown of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.