3 May 2019 08:51 am
State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne yesterday said the government would not hesitate to take stern actions against those who are involved in posting fake news, thereby they would become a threat to national security.
He also requested the public not to be carried away with fake news regarding the terror attacks, because the national security had become number one after the massive loss of lives.
He expressed these views addressing the local and foreign heads of banks at the Finance Ministry.
"We want to thank the general public for their corporation and how they dealt with the situation. But more fake news is spreading around regarding the terror attack. We want it to be self-regulated and self-corrected because the government has stood for the freedom of individuals. We do not like to interfere with it," he said.
"I am pleased to say that the police and the armed forces responded swiftly in terms of the information of the groups that were behind the Easter Sunday terror attack. Almost everyone who was involved in the attack had been taken into custody. There is significant progress in terms of getting to the bottom of the incident," Minister Wickramaratne said.
“The security forces and the police had played a tremendous roll and also the intelligence services. There are only four intelligent officers in custody and it had been an attempt to discredit the intelligence services was incorrect. We have over one thousand intelligence officers and nine units,” the Minister said.
We should maintain the communal harmony at all costs and should not allow extremism in any form to raise its head. We cannot let terrorists to divide our nation and communities, he added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)