UNP calls on Police to arrest Gen. Ratwatte

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 December 2001, 12:45 GMT]
The UNP urged the Police Friday to arrest Sri Lanka's ex-Deputy Minister for Defence, Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte for allegedly being involved in the murder of ten Muslims in Kandy on Wednesday and for unleashing violence to rig the polls in the district. The poll at 29 stations in the Kandy (Mahanuwara) was cancelled due to the intensity of violence there, Sri Lanka's commissioner of Elections said. The UNP spokesman Mr. Karunasena Kodithuwakku said that armed gangs backed by ex-Deputy minister for Defence, Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte, and his son, Mr. Lohan Ratwatte.

Announcing the final results Friday, the Commissioner said that his department may not be able to conduct elections in the future if the major political parties in the island did not educate their membership to refrain engaging in violence

He said the violence that marred the 2001 elections to the Sri Lankan Parliament was unprecedented. The number of election related was 46, the highest ever recorded according to the polls chief, Mr. Dayananda Dissanayaka. The Police recorded 2132 incidents of election related violence, he said.