The NSC mystery man in the Easter Sunday plot!
President Maithripala Sirisena, on 21 September, 2019, appointed a Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI), headed by Justice Janak de Silva, Judge of the Supreme Court, on a request made by Archbishop of Colombo Malcom Cardinal Ranjith. In addition to that request, the Vijith Malalgoda Committee, that first probed the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, recommended the […]
On 21 September, 2019, President Maithripala Sirisena established a Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) to investigate the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, led by Justice Janak de Silva. The Archbishop of Colombo, Malcom Cardinal Ranjith, had requested the appointment of the PCoI, dissatisfied with previous probes by the Vijith Malalgoda Committee and the Parliamentary Select Committee.
Despite the government's decision not to implement the PCoI's recommendations, two senior police officers implicated by the commission, Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena and Deshabandu Tennakoon, continued to serve, with Jayawardena eventually reaching the position of Deputy Inspector General, and Tennakoon becoming Inspector General of Police.
The identity of a senior member of the National Security Council (NSC) who allegedly disregarded warnings from retired Maj. General Suresh Sallay, held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), remains undisclosed. Jayawardena, representing Sallay, proclaimed the NSC's negligence during a writ petition hearing, stating that the NSC, under President Sirisena, failed to address growing Muslim extremism and take necessary countermeasures.
Sallay had warned the NSC in 2016 about the rising threat of extremism, but his concerns were ignored. Jayawardena accused former President Maithripala Sirisena of contributing to security lapses that led to the Easter attacks in his speech in March 2022.
Written by urgent.news from The Island Sri Lanka's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
