Easter Bomb Victims in Sri Lanka. (Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha)

258 People Killed, Sri Lanka President Failed to Prevent Easter Bombing

Sri Lanka - According to AFP, Sri Lanka Police Chief Inspector General Pujith Jayasundara accused President Maithripala Sirisena of failing to prevent an Easter bomb which killed 258 people. It is also reported that, in a 20-page petition containing a complaint filed in court last week, Jayasundra said that the State Intelligence Service (SIS), asked him to stop investigating Islamic militants.

Sirisena reported that, SIS wanted the terrorist investigation department in the police to stop investigating Muslim extremists, including the National Thowheet Jama'ath (NJT), which was blamed on the tragedy of the Easter bomb.

The Head of SIS, Nilantha Jayawardena did not take seriously the intelligence material that India shared about warnings of impending attacks from NJT. Jayasundara said that even though SIS did not share information related to the warning with the police, he took the initiative to give a warning to his senior officials.

Jayasundara said he was offered a diplomatic position to take the responsibility for the Easter bomb attack if he accepted it and resigned, but he refused and said he was not responsible for the intelligence chaos that had occurred.

However, Sirisena, in an official statement, denied Mendis's claim that the highest security body in Sri Lanka did not held a meeting as it should have been during the bombing. Sirisena stated that, he met with the head of the police and other officials 13 days before the attack and said there was no one who said about the warning from India. Since the attack Sri Lanka is now in an emergency, however, Sirisena announced last week that this issue will end in a month and they will improve the national security even harder.

Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/internasional/20190602160106-113-400463/presiden-sri-lanka-dituduh-gagal-cegah-bom-paskah