Colombo Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil said yesterday no one could fool Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and that the people who had tried to do so had had fallen by the wayside.

“I have argued with several people clamoring to thank Mr. Rajapaksa. I know that no one can fool him, there was a general who tried it and now he is nowhere,” he said.

Mr. Muzammil made these remarks in the presence of Mr. Rajapaksa during the ceremony at the BMICH for the people of Kompannaweediya who are being affected by the ongoing development work in the area.

The Mayor made these remarks after the opposition UPFA members stole the mace of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) yesterday in protest to the Mayor rejecting a proposal to thank the Secretary of Defence. (Hafeel Farisz)