Police seal office of 'Lanka' newspaper

Sri Lankan Police on Saturday shut down the office of a pro-opposition newspaper in Colombo after taking its editor into custody over reports that criticsed a top government official.

The office belonging to the 'Lanka' newspaper was sealed off by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) based on a court order, police said. 'Lanka' is affiliated to Marxist JVP, which is a opposition party in Sri Lanka.

Daily Mirror online quoted Police Spokesman S M Karunaratne as saying that had not received any report why the action was taken by the CID. But he maintained that a court order had been obtained prior to entering the premises.

"The Editor of the 'Lanka' newspaper, Chandana Sirimalwatte was arrested by the CID last evening after being called over to make a statement regarding a published article that had made revelations about a senior government official," the online said.

A journalist attached to the newspaper, claimed CID officials at the scene had said that the office was being sealed off because an article published by the newspaper posed a threat to national security, the online said.