A powerful government minister on Tuesday accused Sri Lanka's main opposition party of attempting to kill him, amid a series of violent incidents in which seven people have died ahead of the Dec 5 parliamentary polls.
“ I was lucky to escape, Sports minister, Mangala Samaraweera told reporters two days after his car was shot at by gunmen in Matara town, 160 km south of Colombo.

The men who attacked me are army deserters and they are funded by the United National Party, Samaraweera was quoted as saying by the state-run daily news. At least seven people received gunfire wounds.
“The UNP denied the charge. Our men were not involved in any way,” said Sagala Ratnayaka, the party's candidate for Matara constituency.
The alleged attack tops the list of 311 incidents of violence reported to the police election secretariat since the nominations were filed on Oct 27.
Seven deaths have been blamed on poll-related violence, said a statement from the secretariat, which oversees law and order for the polls.

Bureau Report