MP Shanakiya Testifies on Kurundur Hill Archaeological Fraud

03-Nov-2025

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Batticaloa District MP R. Shanakiya (ITAK) has stated that the chief monk of Mihintale Viharaya informed him of a fraudulent scheme in which Buddhist artifacts were brought in bags and scattered around lands near Kurundur Hill, falsely registering them as archaeological sites for takeover by the Department of Archaeology.

Shanakiya said he visited the monk following a special invitation, during which the monk provided him a copy of a complaint submitted to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on July 21. 

The complaint alleged that Jayathilaka, a Deputy Director at the Archaeology Department, was involved in this manipulation.

The monk’s actions to expose the misconduct were described by Shanakiya as commendable.

During the discussion, the monk also proposed introducing a law to make Tamil, Sinhala, and English compulsory for all citizens to promote trilingual education.