COLOMBO (News 1st) – A fraudulent letter regarding Gotabaya Rajapaksa said to be issued by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is making the rounds on Social Media. Complaints were lodged today at a number of institutions on the issue.

The letter reported to be issued by Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, states that Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been named as the 2020 presidential candidate.

The media secretary of the Former President issuing a release this afternoon (July 18) said that the former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has not been named as the 2020 presidential candidate and that no such letter had been issued. He added that the letter was released strategically at a time when the former president is on tour in Singapore.

Rohan Weliwita the media secretary to the Mahinda Rajapaksa and Attorney at law Lalith Piyum lodged a complaint regarding the matter at the Bribery Commission and the Fraud investigation bureau of Sri Lanka located down Alwitigala Mawatha in Colombo.

Meanwhile, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a tweet said that the release issued naming him as the presidential candidate is a fraudulent document.

I wish to inform that a fake media release circulating in social media, purported to be from the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, claiming to have appointed me as the Presidential Candidate for 2020, is… https://t.co/yvEFQKDc82

— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) July 18, 2018

He points out that the release of such a letter is aimed at stirring political ambiguity and mislead the general public.