Devananda denies Vijayakala's allegation

Jaffna District MP and EPDP Leader Douglas Devananda yesterday responded to an allegation levelled by Deputy Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran in Parliament that a person linked to her husband T. Maheswaran's murder was sitting in Parliament.

MP Devananda who referred to the charge made by the Deputy Minister on Friday, December 4, told the House that his party is not one that is involved in murdering people. If there are allegations, a proper investigation should be conducted, he said.

However, Deputy Minister Maheswaran who also spoke later in parliament yesterday said that she had not mentioned anyone's name when she made the allegation and there was no need for anyone to get excited and act guilty.

"During the past five years, I was not allowed to speak about my husband's murder by the Defence Ministry. I hope a fresh investigation will be conducted and the culprits will be brought to book," she said.

She said that there was no progress in the investigations over the past five years since her husband was killed, as they were in the Opposition. "There are many other women like me whose loved ones have been killed or have disappeared but the culprits have not been brought to book."

UNP Colombo district MP T. Maheswaran was shot dead at Shree Ponnambalavaneswarar Sivam Temple in Kotahena on January 1, 2008.

- UK