COLOMBO, Jan 1: An opposition lawmaker was assassinated at a New Year’s religious service here on Tuesday. The legislator’s party blamed the government for recently reducing his security detail.

A gunman opened fire at ethnic Tamil lawmaker Thyagaraja Maheswaran of the opposition United National Party at a Hindu temple in Colombo, police spokesman N.K. Ilangakoon said.

Maheswaran was killed two days after he appeared in a private television interview and blamed government paramilitary troops for a spate of abductions, extortion schemes and unexplained killings in government-controlled northern Jaffna peninsula. He vowed to reveal the names of those involved when Parliament meets in the new year.

The lawmaker and one other person died of their wounds after they were admitted to Colombo National Hospital, the hospital’s medical director Hector Weerasinghe said. Ten other people were wounded, including the suspected gunman, and were being treated at the hospital, he said.

The suspect, an ethnic Tamil from Jaffna, was wounded when Maheswaran’s security officials returned fire, Ilangakoon said.

UNP’s General Secretary Tissa Attanayake held the government responsible for Maheswaran’s assassination because it recently reduced the number of security personnel assigned for his protection to two from 10, after the lawmaker spoke out against the government’s alleged misdeeds.

“The government should take the responsibility for this tragic death. Maheswaran’s security was reduced during the last two weeks, making him vulnerable for an attack of this nature,” Attanayake said.

President Mahinda Raja-paksa’s spokesman Chandrapala Liyanage denied reducing the number of security personnel assigned to Maheswaran and said the lawmaker was given special protection whenever requested.—AP