Armed men set fire to TV station in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 July 2010, 07:50 GMT]
Twelve armed men clad in black uniforms forcefully entered the private TV channel Siyatha TV office and assaulted the security guard and set fire to the station and caused severe damage to the equipment on Friday at 1.30 am. The station belongs to former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Mr. Priyantha Kariyapperuma. Mr. Kariyapermuma was earlier a close associate of Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, but he was sacked from his post week before the presidential election by the SL President.

The office and the transmitting station at Hunupitiya Lake Road, Colombo 02 are located in the vicinity of the high security zone where Mahinda Rajapaksa’s residence Temple Trees is also located.