Newly appointed National Integration Minister Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman yesterday insisted that he has no arms to be handed over to the government.

Karuna told The Bottom Line that it was only the TMVP that possessed any weapons and that he and his supporters did not have any weapons with them. He noted that security for himself would be provided by the government as he did not possess the weapons to guard himself.

Karuna spokesman Tatchanamurthi Kamalanathan had earlier insisted that the former rebel leader would remain armed along with some 3,000 cadres until they were fully absorbed into the SLFP as full members. “The Karuna faction is forced to retain its weapons for its own security since there remains a threat to its safety from certain armed groups operating in the east and other areas. At present, Karuna loyalists and their offices were being guarded by the state security forces to prevent attacks from rival elements,” Kamalanathan had said.

This happened yesterday when he was sworn in as the Non-Cabinet Minister for National Integration along with some 2000 members from the East. However, Karuna assures that he is no longer a separate faction and supports the government as part of the democratic political process. Therefore there is no need for him to be armed, he asserted.

The TMVP last Saturday handed over 150 weapons and stocks of ammunition to the government, which in turn pledged to absorb its cadres into the armed forces.