Sri Lanka
Senior cop accused of failing to act on warnings of a possible terror attack on Easter Sunday 2019
Demonstrators participate in an act to condemn the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings at three churches and three luxury hotels on the eve of the third anniversary of the attacks in Colombo on April 20. (Photo: AFP)
Sri Lankan Catholic priests have urged the inspector general of police (IGP) to arrest the senior deputy inspector general for failing to act on warnings from foreign intelligence agencies of a possible terror attack on Easter Sunday, 2019.
Father Rohan Silva, director of the Center for Society and Religion, called on IGP Chandana D. Wickramaratne to arrest Nilantha Jayawardena, former chief of the State Intelligence Service and deputy IGP, for his failure to act on the security alert from foreign intelligence agencies.
“We have been waiting for justice to be done for three years but the investigations have not been conducted properly,” said Father Silva, a prominent human rights defender.
“We asked the IGP to take the Easter Sunday investigations in the right direction. For that, Jayawardena should be arrested.”
Father Silva said if the police had arrested Jayawardena, they would have found the masterminds behind the attacks and moved the investigations in the right direction.
Attorney-at-law Mohan Weerakoon said Jayawardena was responsible for the Easter attacks. “He had ignored the information he received regarding the possible terror attack,” Weerakoon said at a recent media briefing.
As Sri Lanka marks the third anniversary of the Easter attacks, the country is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948
Several priests, lawyers and activists filed a complaint with the IGP on April 20.
Nine suicide bombers belonging to local Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath bombed three churches and three luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, claiming the lives of almost 300 people and injuring more than 500 others.
The local Church has been vocal in expressing disappointment over the police investigations.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said the initial impression was that the attacks were solely the work of a few Islamic extremists. However, subsequent investigations found that the attacks were part of a grand political plot, he claimed.
As Sri Lanka marks the third anniversary of the Easter attacks, the country is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. Protesters have taken to the streets across the country calling on the government to resign.
Father Silva said the crisis started after the Easter attacks. “An unarmed youth who demonstrated against the government was shot dead by the police yesterday,” he said on April 20.
Police fired tear gas and opened fire to disperse protesters in Rambukkana on April 19.
The United Nations, United Kingdom, United States and Human Rights Watch have called on the Sri Lankan government to conduct an investigation into the killing of the unarmed protester.
Cardinal Ranjith also urged the government to punish those involved in the incident irrespective of their rank.
Several demonstrations, street marches and photo exhibitions will be held demanding justice for the Easter attack victims and to pressure the government to resign for the good of the country and society.
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