SJB’s Gampaha MP accuses media outlets of attempting to damage his reputation and says legal action is being considered
By The Pulseline News Desk
Opposition MP Harshana Rajakaruna has rejected media reports suggesting a connection between him and a suspect arrested with firearms by the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD), accusing certain media outlets of attempting to damage his reputation through what he described as misleading reporting.
The Gampaha District MP said has issued a statement noting that several media outlets, including a social media account operated by a government-affiliated newspaper organisation, had published reports implying an association between him and the arrested individual.
Rajakaruna has denied any involvement in the incident, arguing that the reports had sought to create a connection without establishing any factual basis for doing so.
The MP has said he had instructed his lawyers to consider legal action against the media institutions responsible for publishing the reports.
MP challenges alleged surname-based association
In addressing the reports, Rajakaruna has said he was the only son in a family with three sisters and had no brothers.
He has questioned the basis for linking him to an individual involved in an alleged criminal incident simply because they shared a surname.
“Should an offence committed by a person be attributed to everyone who bears the same surname?” was the substance of the question he has raised in challenging the reports.
His response sought to distinguish his identity from that of the arrested suspect and to reject what he described as an attempt to associate him with an incident in which he had no involvement.
Denies possessing a firearm
Rajakaruna has also referred to his 11 years in Parliament, stating that he had never obtained the firearm made available to Members of Parliament.
He has further said his late father, Sarath Chandra Rajakaruna, had never possessed a firearm.
The MP has maintained that the reports had unfairly brought his name into a matter with which he had no connection.
However, the details of the CCD arrest and any evidence establishing a connection between the suspect and the MP were not provided in his statement.
Accuses media of political motives
Rajakaruna has alleged that certain media institutions had deliberately linked his name to the firearms incident to undermine his political reputation.
He has also accused the National People’s Power (NPP) Government of attempting to divert public attention from growing social pressure and criticism by engaging in activities of this nature.
The allegations against the media outlets and the Government were made by the MP in his statement. No response from the institutions concerned was included in the information available.
His threat of legal action could bring the dispute into the legal arena, where the accuracy of the reports and the basis for any alleged association could be examined.
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