The Hon. Major General (Rtd.) Aruna Jayasekera - Deputy Minister of Defence

¶ 01 Madam, I rise to a Point of Order. The Hon. Member mentioned my name. Yes, I was the Eastern Commander at the time. I state responsibly—as I have said before—that a small segment within intelligence, not the entire apparatus, assisted the extremist group for certain political objectives. Our intelligence and CID units are otherwise highly professional; that is how they contained the Arugam Bay incident and restored calm.

¶ 02 I also said a deep criminal investigation is underway to uncover these matters. When the CID called me to testify about incidents and wrongdoing that occurred under the government you represented, I did not hesitate. As a Minister and MP, when called, I went. About two and a half months after we came to power, I spent six hours answering questions and fully cooperated, giving an account of my actions as Eastern Commander. I reiterate: a small group within intelligence acted; my statement ends here.