In the immediate aftermath of the detection of a grenade in the compound of a  member of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) member, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa met medical professionals yesterday and assured them that SLMC members who were likely to face a threat would be provided with police protection.

The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday met the Defence Secretary who had assured the doctors that a full CID investigation would be carried out on the hand grenade which was found in the garden of SLMC member Dr. Lalantha Ranasinghe on Thursday morning.

GMOA President Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya said Mr. Rajapaksa had also assured that police protection would be provided to SLMC members including those who had candidly expressed their views about private medical colleges and whose lives may be under threat.

He said he had also met IGP N.K Illangakone who had also assured a thorough investigation into the matter.

Dr. Padeniya said the GMOA was certain that those responsible for the grenade attack were supporters of private medical colleges.

 “Dr. Ranasinghe was one of the many medical professionals who condemned private medical colleges and voiced his opinion on the matter. It is clear that this incident is part of a continuous trend of threats that medical professionals have been facing for a long time,” he said.

Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) yesterday condemned the grenade attack on Dr. Ranasinghe and his family and urgently called on the authorities to take immediate measures to identify those responsible and take action against them.

“Dr. Ranasinghe is a person who is not afraid to express his views and we believe that his outspoken views of the medical profession would have led to the attack,” SLMA President Vajira Dissanayake said in a statement. (Olindhi Jayasundere)