By Munza Mushtaq
Controversial Minister Mervyn Silva who recently threatened to finish off anyone with his ‘legally registered pistol’ has marred the opening ceremony of the State Mortgage & Investment Bank in Kiribathgoda simply because his name was not included in the invitation cards, The Bottom Line reliably learns.

“The incident had occurred at around 10:30 a.m. when guests had gathered outside the Bank just before it was declared open.

Then, Mervyn Silva has stormed in along with a bunch of his supporters, shouting in his usual harangue and attempting to stop the government owned Bank from being ceremoniously opened,” sources present at the scene told The Bottom Line.

Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity for obvious reasons, pointed out that usually when the Bank opened a new branch it printed the name of the area politician in the card. At this instance, however, they were unable to do so because the Bank was scheduled to open a total of three branches around the country and so, only a common card was printed for the occasion.

“However, Silva had been very angry that his name was not included in the card and had come to the Bank and tried to disrupt the opening. However after he had left, the Bank was declared open by one of the Bank officials,” sources noted.

Nonetheless, a Bank official who spoke to The Bottom Line pointed out that despite the name of the Minister not being printed in the invitation, he was invited for the opening.

Meanwhile on Monday, just hours after the Court ruling which ordered the remand of his son, Malaka who was involved in an assault case last week, a belligerent Silva vowed to remove anything in his path which he thought would be an impediment.

“If there is a tree which blocks my path, I will cut it down; if there is a rock which blocks my path I will use whatever necessary and remove it; and if I think someone or anyone is trying to block me from moving forward, I will use my legally registered gun against that person no matter who he is,” he warned.