Sri Lankan AG questions why officials haven't been arrested

si_lanka_mass burial File: The mass burial at St Sebastian’s Church in Negombo | Bhanu Prakash Chandra

Sri Lankan police have been asked by prosecutors to explain why two former senior police officials have not been arrested for alleged negligence leading to the Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 250 people at churches and hotels.

Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando Fernando, who was named along with Pujith Jayasundara as a suspect and produced before a court, resigned after the blasts and Jayasundara was sent on compulsory leave.


The government, after the Easter attacks, has acknowledged it received intelligence reports about the plot beforehand.

Fernando told the committee that Sirisena wasn't easily accessible for discussions. Jayasundara said Sirisena asked him after the blasts to resign to take responsibility and promised he would have his name cleared in any subsequent inquiry.

According to the attorney general General Dappula de Livera, who wrote to the acting police chief, the duo should be charged with grave crimes against humanity for failing to prevent the attacks. The bombings were claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL.