In the early part of February this year, former Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon was issued with an arrest order by the Matara Magistrate over a shooting incident. The top cop evaded arrest, and a month later he surrendered to the Police. Following his surrender, the court allowed him to go on bail amounting to rupees one million.
In the meantime, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Nilantha Jayawardena was dismissed three days ago from the Police service, following his failure to act swiftly despite the intelligence reports he had received prior to the Easter Sunday attacks in April 2019.
The National Police Commission (NPC) has cited grave misconduct as the reason for his dismissal.
The NPC announced on July 13, 2023, after a preliminary disciplinary inquiry, that there was insufficient evidence to take action against him. That decision, according to official documentation from the NPC, was based on “statements of witnesses, media disclosures, and other information”, that failed to meet the threshold for disciplinary misconduct. At the time, the Commission formally communicated this conclusion to both Jayawardena and the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
However, the Police Commission has now dismissed Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena from Police service, and further investigation into his failure to take preventive measures despite the intelligence reports he had received on the Easter Sunday attacks, is likely to be carried out with imminent arrest of the senior DIG.
Preliminary investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks have revealed that Sri Lankan intelligence officials were alerted precisely about an imminent attack by Islamist extremists even hours before the attacks were carried out.
Even the Indian intelligence agencies had alerted Sri Lankan intelligence agencies about the attacks. Indian intelligence officers contacted their Sri Lankan counterparts two hours before the first attack to warn of a specific threat on churches, one Sri Lankan defense source and an Indian government source said.
When the Easter Sunday attacks took place, the President of Sri Lanka was Maithripala Sirisena and the Prime Minister was Ranil Wickremesinghe. Neither leader responded to the intelligence reports.
DIG Nilantha Jayawardena had functioned as a senior intelligence officer in the Police during the time the Easter Sunday attacks had occurred, yet he took no prompt action towards preventing the attacks.
Former Chief Minister of the Eastern Province and Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puikal (TMVP) party leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan, who is now in judicial custody has mentioned that he would reveal some vital information with regard to the atrocities committed during the previous regime.
The removal of DIG Nilantha Jayawardena could be considered as a prelude to the broader investigation to be carried out into the Easter Sunday attacks in the future.
