Police probing a possible assassination attempt on the PM at Friday’s annual state drama awards ceremony at the BMICH after the arrest of an undercover LTTE operative who had an invitation to the event, said the suspect had been a director of the National Film Corporation during Vijitha Herath’s tenure as the Cultural Affairs Minister in 2004-2005 period.

Herath told The Island yesterday that the appointment was made after seeking clearance from Police Intelligence but they had never responded to the query. In fact, at that time, Sunil Sirisena, additional Secretary to the Ministry of Defence had been the Chairman of the NFC, Herath said.

Police spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekera said an LTTE intelligence wing cadre, under interrogation, had implicated the former NFC director.

The police had kept the arrest of the intelligence wing cadre under wraps until they took the former NFC director into custody.

Investigators had recovered 9.5 kilograms of high explosives and a stock of steel balls from the suspects who revealed details of bombing operations mounted by the LTTE in the city and its suburbs.