Sri Lanka to probe phonetapping of legislators

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s parliament Tuesday announced an investigation into how the private phone records of legislators were leaked in a scandal that has deepened acrimony between President Maithripala Sirisena and his coalition. Lawmakers allege their phones were illegally tapped by a commission selected by Sirisena to investigate a long-running insider trading scandal linked to the central bank. “We must find out how this information leaked out and remedial action should be taken,” said parliament speaker Karu Jayasuriya as ruling party legislators accused the presidential commission of hacking their phones. Sirisena has publicly accused politicians from his own coalition of frustrating his investigation, launched earlier this year, into a bond dealing scandal at the central bank.