(VIDEO) Arsenic laced salmon imported by Sathosa ; Anura Kumara

Speaking during a parliamentary debate on Friday, the Jathika Jana Balawegaya leader accused the chairman of state-owned retailer Sathosa, for influencing the transfer of the body.

He said the transfer had come after trade minister Bandula Gunawardena allowed the SLSI to inspect stocks of salmon at Sathosa stores, that contained a high percentage of arsenic that is harmful to health.

"The salmon stocks contained 2.5 percent of arsenic," Dissanayake insisted.

He added that the SLSI had detected the high amount of arsenic and had wanted to investigate the matter, before it was transferred under a gazette published by the presidential secretariat on November 20.