Fonseka defends raid on DMI safe house at Millennium City

By Saman Indrajith

SJB Gampaha District MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament yesterday that he did not deem the raid conducted at the Directorate of Military Intelligence safe house at Millennium City, Athurugiriya illegal.

It was wrong for a senior army officer to keep weapons there at the time and that incident had been used by some parties against the then government, Field Marshal Fonseka said.

Participating in the second reading stage debate on budget 2022, the Gampaha District MP said army intelligence operatives had never been deployed in long range reconnaissance patrols. The cache of weapons found there following the raid belonged to the LRRP of the Special Forces of the army. There had been no need for the army intelligence to maintain an armoury including RPGs and claymore mines in Colombo.

Field Marshal Fonseka said that he had been the Jaffna security forces commander at the time of the raid.

He said that the army operatives exposed by the raid had been there to be used to overthrow the then government.