Ex-Prez faults SIS Chief

Easter Sunday carnage:

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Former Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena had made a serious error by not informing him of the intelligence received on 4 April, 2019 of a possible terror attack, former President Maithripala Sirisena said on Wednesday night, at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) investigating the Easter Sunday attacks.  

Sirisena said that he had instructed Jayawardena to personally inform him of any possible threats to national security.

Jayawardena had been told at the National Security Council (NSC) to make him aware of matters pertaining to the underworld, drug trafficking and other threats to national security, the witness said.

Sirisena added that he had been in constant touch with Jayawardena over the phone.

The Additional Solicitor General (ASG), who led evidence, asked the witness if he had offered former IGP Pujith Jayasundara an ambas sadorial post if Jayasundara had taken responsibility for the Easter Sunday attacks.

 “This is not true. I said I would give him such a post when he embarrassed the police by dancing at the Kandy Perahera. I told the IGP to resign as his behaviour was unbecoming of an IGP. This happened way before the Easter Sunday attacks.”

The Commissioners also asked Sirisena about several telephone calls between Jayawardena and the former President’s official residence on Paget Road on 20 April, 2019. On that day, Jayawardena had made two telephone calls to the former President’s residence at 7.59 a.m. and 8.01 a.m, Sirisena was told.

The former President said that he had been told that there had been several bomb blasts and that a large number of people had been killed. However, the ASG pointed out that bomb blasts had not taken place at the time of those calls.

Sirisena said that he might not have received the telephone calls in the morning.

“I was abroad and I can remember his call about an attack,” Sirisena added.