Former military intelligence chief denies Indian media allegations of hindering Easter attack probes

“Recording my conversation is a violation of my privacy and it must be understood by everyone that this can happen to anyone in the future.”

Colombo (News1st) - Sri Lanka’s former Military Intelligence Chief, Major General (Rtd.) Kapila Hendawitharana denied to News 1^st allegations levelled at him by the Indian media of attempting to meddle with ongoing probes into the Easter attacks by conniving with Chinese officials.

India’s Economic Times in its report filed on the 3^rd of May 2019 alleged that audio tapes heard by Economic Times, were conversations between the former head of Military Intelligence and Chinese Security agencies showed that he was influencing Chinese officials to hinder ongoing investigations.

However, speaking to News 1^st, Hendawitharana vehemently denied the allegations but admitted the recorded conversations contained his voice.

He said the conversations were not recent and were between him and a Chinese official over four months ago. Explaining the contents of the recorded and now exposed conversations, he told News 1^st that he had briefed the Chinese official on a potential American hub in Sri Lanka based on media reports at the time, but nothing about the Easter Attacks as this conversation took place months ago.

He added that as a patriotic Sri Lankan he was deeply concerned about such a US logistics hub that could potentially be a threat to Sri Lanka’s national security and sovereignty.

“Recording my conversation is a violation of my privacy and it must be understood by everyone that this can happen to anyone in the future”, added the former Intel Chief, concluding by saying that how this recording was done, who and when it happened is a “massive question”.

News 1^st has not been able to independently verify the veracity of the audio tapes reported by The Economic Times of India.