Cabinet Minister Udaya Gammanpila stated that MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan was a man who sacrificed his life to protect the country from terrorism and he cannot be compared with MP Ranjan Ramanayake by any stretch of imagination.

Gammanpila said Pilleyan helped the final military assault on the LTTE.

A former LTTE militant, Pilleyan later broke away from the organization along with Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan lias Karuna Amman. Pillayen was arrested in 2015 for the murder of former TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham. Pilleyan was acquitted from the Pararajasingham murder case a day after Ramanayake was imprisoned for four years for contempt ot court.

The Minister said Ramanayake worked to shatter the public trust in the judiciary and undermined the judicial independence.

"Therefore, comparing Pillayan and Ranjan is an insult to Pillayan," the Minister said.