Colombo, Apr 29: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday suspended defiant police chief Pujith Jayasundara and named his successor as well as a new defence secretary as part of the revamping of the security establishment following the country’s worst terror attack.
Sirisena on Monday also set up a new military command aimed at countering the threat from Jihadists and extrimists in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks.
Sirisena on Friday said that Jayasundara had resigned but he never sent the letter and remained in his official residence, according to officials.
Senior Deputy Inspector General C D Wickremaratne has been appointed as the acting police chief while former commander of the Army, General Shantha Kottegoda, named as the new defence secretary, President’s Media Division said.
Police chief Jayasundara was asked to quit along with defence ministry secretary Hemasiri Fernando, taking responsibility for the intelligence failure that led to the bombings. Jayasundara, however, refused to heed Sirisena’s call to resign following April 21 coordinated blasts on three churches and three luxury hotels.
The police chief in Sri Lanka can only be removed through a parliamentary procedure and Sirisena’s action suspending him is the first step towards that, the officials said. The attacks carried out by suicide bombers came in spite of early warnings and the security establishment’s failure to take preventive action has come under severe criticism.
Sirisena, who also keeps the defence portfolio with him, said he wanted to revamp the security system and his defence ministry secretary Fernando resigned promptly on his request on Thursday. He also set up a new military command. All Army, Navy, Air Force and Police areas within the Western Province and Puttalam District have been placed under command to the Overall Operational Command – Colombo for operational purposes with immediate effect, the Army Headquarters said in a statement.
Major General Sathyapriya Liyanage (Commander, Security Forces – West) would function as the Overall Operational Commander in the establishment.
Deputy Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Nalin Bandara said a motion to remove the police chief will be tabled in Parliament within this week, Sri Lanka Mirror reported. Noting that the motion will be tabled on the agreement of all government MPs, he hoped to get the backing of opposition MPs as well, it said.
President Sirisena last week said that intelligence failures led to the blasts, the country’s worst terror attack. Meanwhile, the police chief has said that he has done nothing wrong and that he would resign if the defence minister resigns as well.
Nine suicide bombers carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on the Easter Sunday, killing 253 people and injuring over 500 people.
The Islamic State claimed the attacks, but the government has blamed local Islamist extremist group National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) for the attacks. Sri Lanka on Saturday banned the NTJ and a splinter group linked to the ISIS.
A total of 106 suspects, including a Tamil medium teacher and a school principal, have been arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday blasts. According to Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry, the number of foreign nationals who have been identified as killed remained at 40, including 11 from India.