The TMVP leader and the Chief Minister raised the problems he and his party men were facing. A team of Army reportedly raided the house of the Chief Minister without a warrant, as TMVP accuses. It is reported that the President instructed the Inspector General of Police to take measures to conduct investigations in line with the law and to pay due respect to the privileges of the Eastern Province Chief Minister.
Then who ordered the raids, if the President is against them? Some media reported that the raid was conducted under the orders of the Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
The Police was also instructed by the President to speed up investigations regarding the arrested TMVP provincial councilor Pradeep Master. He was arrested last week in suspicion for the killing of a coordinating secretary of Deputy Minister Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan, a rival of the TMVP.
The President reportedly highlighted at the meeting the need of respect by all sections of the society to the rule of law.
The Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayaka, Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya and President's Secretary Lalith Weerathunga also participated in the discussion.
Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayaka appears as the person who arranged the meeting for Pillaiya. That means Pillaiyan has no very good rapport with the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The clashes between paramilitary politicians Deputy Minister Karuna Amman and the Chief Minister Pillaiyan haunt the Batticaloa district since a long time. Karuna who nearly lost the entire ground and fled to UK once to be arrested and imprisoned there for breach of immigration laws fought back after returning to the home country.
He somehow won the heart of the ruling family and elevated into national politics as a Deputy Minister and a Vice President of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
The killings that took place in Batticloa last week appears as a direct clash between these two paramilitary leaders.
However, with Karuna's advent to the ruling family, Pillaiyan is in a very disadvantaged position. He seems sitting on a time bomb as metaphorically said by certain media. It is a time bomb of which the remote controller is in other people's hand. It may be in the hands of his arch rival Karuna.
One thing is definite. Pillaiyan who has been sidelined by the government will not be able to win a future election for a Provincial council or any other set up that will be created in future, especially in a context the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has reappeared and invaded the main stream politics of Tamil polity.
However, Karuna will cling to power still preventing his enemy's hold. Power is power and the color of the power will not be a matter to Karuna. Poor Pillaiyan! Unknown gunmen killed the Chief Minister's secretary at Athurugiriya some times back. Culprits are yet to arrested.
Lanka-e-News that appears since recently a pro-Pillaiyan media says that Pillaiyan has the widest support of the former paramilitary cadres. It also hints that Pillaiyan has a huge arms cache as well.
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