News

Ex-IGP: Easter carnage caused by system failure

Published

2 years ago

2020/10/22

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Everyone in power during the Easter Sunday attacks should take responsibility for failing to prevent the incident as it was clearly a system failure, former IGP Pujith Jayasundara yesterday told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) investigating the Easter Sunday attacks.

Jayasundara said that the attacks could have been prevented if the Minister of Defence at that time, President Maithripala Sirisena, and the National Security Council (NSC), had acted appropriately on the information provided by the State Intelligence Service (SIS),warning of a possible terrorist attack. The SIS had received the information on 04 April 2019.

President’s Counsel Anil Silva appearing for former President Sirisena, Attorney- at-Law Upul Kumarapperuna appearing for former SDIG of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Ravi Seneviratne and former CID Director Shani Abeysekera, and Attorney- at- Law Madu Jayatilake appearing for former SIS Director SDIG Jayawardena crossexamined the witness.

Jayasundara said that when former SIS Director SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena sent him a report on 09 April 2019 warning of the attacks, he had contacted the relevant officials over the phone and informed them. He added that he had forwarded the report to SDIG of Western Province, Nandana Munasinghe, SDIG crimes and STF M.R. Latif, DIG special protection range Priyalal Dassanayake and Director of the Terrorism Investigation Division, Waruna Jayasundara and spoken to them over the phone. Jayasundara said that he had also phoned all SDIGs in charge of provinces.

“I gave all of them specific instructions on what to do. But when investigators checked my mobile records, the details of these records were gone. President Sirisena’s brother headed Mobitel at that time. What happened to these call logs must be investigated.”

The former IGP added that SIS had tapped his phone and had deployed officers opposite his house. “Intelligence agents were monitoring my movements. They were right outside my house. I was the IGP.”

The representative of the Attorney General’s Department who led evidence also said that there were no records of the calls which, Jayasundara said, he had made to senior police officers on April 9, 2019 after receiving foreign intelligence on a possible terror attack.

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Stay on course and don’t go back to the past – Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy

Published

3 hours ago

2023/03/24

Priyan

Former Governor of the Central Bank delivering the keynote address at a high profile Webinar hosted by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka today (24) said that Sri Lanka must implement the structural reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without relaxing like in the past or else we will be in a deeper economic mess.

The webinar was titled ‘What is next for Sri Lanka in the wake of the IMF programme’

News

Sustainable economic development goals cannot be achieved unless attention is paid to mitigating climate change – Sagala Ratnayake

Published

3 hours ago

2023/03/24

Priyan

President’s Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake said sustainable economic development goals cannot be accomplished without taking steps to mitigate climate change.

He said this while participating in the 10,000 sapling planting program organized by the LEO Youth Vision 2048 Club and the LEO Club at the Royal College, Colombo on Thursday (23rd).

This program was organized in view of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s birthday, which is today (24), and the required plants were distributed to the main schools of the Colombo District.

News

SF claims thousands of police and military personnel leaving

Published

15 hours ago

2023/03/24

Thilina Walpola

By Saman Indrajith

Thousands of police and military personnel had left the services recently as they did not want to carry out illegal orders, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament yesterday. According to the war-winning army commander 200 policemen have resigned during the past two months and 25,000 soldiers have left the army during the last two years.

“We urged the law enforcement and military officials not to follow illegal orders. We will reinstate them with back pay,” he said.

Fonseka also urged the President and the government MPs not to take people for fools.

“Sri Lanka owes 55 billion dollars to the world. Ranil’s plan is to borrow another seven billion during the next four years. So, in four years we will owe 62 billion to the world.

Ranil and his ministers ask us what the alternative to borrowing is. These are the people who destroyed the economy and society. They must leave. Then, we will find an alternative and develop the country,” he said, adding that the IMF loans had made crises in other nations worse.

“Ranil says that by 2025, we will have a budget surplus as in Japan, Germany and South Korea. These countries are economic power houses, and this comparison is ludicrous.”