Did Government MP Kitnan Selvarajah pressure the police?

07-Dec-2025

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A leaked telephone recording claims that National People’s Power MP for the Badulla District, Kitnan Selvarajah, pressured a police officer to avoid filing a complaint against a suspect arrested over illegal tree cutting.

The recording does not specify which police station was contacted. In it, a man calls the MP (as identified in the recording), saying he was arrested in connection with tree cutting and asks that no formal complaint be recorded.

The MP is then heard speaking to a police officer, requesting that the complaint not be filed and that the matter be settled with a fine. The officer can be heard responding that he would speak to the Officer in Charge and help as much as he could. The emergence of such a recording implicating a ruling-party MP has stirred controversy.