SL: Rajapaksa leads, Fonseka hotel surrounded

Colombo, Jan 27: As Mahinda Rajapaksa gains a massive lead in the Sri Lankan presidential polls, seeds of violence seems to have surfaced as army troops surrounded the hotel occupied by main challenger retired General Sarath Fonseka.

On the information that army deserters were among 400 people present inside the lake-front luxury hotel here, armed Lankan troops were deployed around the building.

"We don't know whether these suspected army deserters are providing security or are associated with Gen (retd) Sarath Fonseka," military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara is quoted as saying in news agency report.

He, however, clarified that Fonseka is not a target and that he is free to leave the hotel.

OneIndia News