By IANS
Colombo : A top Sri Lankan minister and ten others were killed in a powerful bomb blast in Sri Lanka’s Gampaha district, just outside Colombo, Sunday morning, defence sources here said.
“Latest reports said that MP Jeyaraj Fernandopulle was also among the many killed in the cowardly LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) attack among a large gathering at a Hindu-Sinhala festival event,” the defence ministry said.
According to initial reports, 11 people were killed and many injured, it said.
According to police sources, a powerful bomb went off minutes before the commencement of a public function at Waliweriya in the Gampaha district in the Western Province.
Minister of Highways Jeyaraj Fernandopulle is a close confidant of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and also the chief government whip in parliament. Fernandopulle is also the treasurer and chief organizer of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).