Gota on Underground palace at the President’s House

The ‘underground palace’ at the President’s House in Colombo Fort was not built to serve a personal purpose of the former president, says ex-defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. He has told that the facility was built around 2009 with the knowledge of the Security Council and the commanders of the armed forces and as an essential step to protect the president’s life in view of threats of LTTE air raids. The LTTE aircraft that had attacked the Kelanitissa power plant had come to Colombo to target the President’s House, Gotabhaya said. It has been built not for Mahinda Rajapaksa, but also for any head of state to face any security situation, he said, adding the allegations being leveled are baseless.