5 April 2016 04:40 pm
About 50 army personnel from the former President’s security had been asked to report to the Army Headquarters on Friday.
It had been reported that Mr. Rajapaksa had been informed that his security would be replaced with police personnel.
However, when contacted by the Daily Mirror, Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachi refused to comment on the matter.
Meanwhile, MP Namal Rajapaksa in a twitter message criticized a move to remove army protection of ex-President Rajapaksa.
“As security deteriorates, how can the government justify removing army protection of President Rajapaksa, the only Sri Lankan leader to end the brutal terrorist war,” he tweeted.
Defence Ministry sources said a decision had been taken to replace army personnel deployed to security detail of all VIPs with police personnel. “This won’t affect their security,” they said. (Darshana Sanjeewa)