Retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne refuted a rumor circulated in certain websites that he assaulted and threatened a student of a leading boys’ school in Colombo during the ongoing GCE (O/L) examination.

Speaking to the website Front Page, Major General Gunaratne also maintained that he was on a tour abroad on the day the incident was rumoured to have taken place.

“My sister-in-law’s son is sitting for the O/Ls in this particular school. He had been beaten up a few days ago after he refused to comply with a group of boys who allegedly asked for money. My sister-in-law had filed a complained regarding this at the Cinnamon Gardens police station,” he said. He also noted that he got to know about the incident only after he landed in Sri Lanka the following day.

“I will never assault a child. Even during my days in the army, I have never assaulted a soldier,” Gunaratne said.

When contacted by FrontPage, an officer at the Cinnamon Garden Police station confirmed that a complaint has been made regarding a group of students assaulting a fellow student from the same school. However, police has not received any complaint regarding Major General Kamal Gunaratne assaulting a student.

The Principal of the school in question could not be reached for comment.

However, FrontPage spoke to a security officer at the school concerned, who stated that he was on duty inside the school at the time of the alleged incident, which took place outside the school premises. According to him it was a group of students who had been involved in the fracas and there was no involvement of any outsiders in the incident.