THE country’s independent regulator has sacked a senior police officer for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people including 45 foreigners.
The National Police Commission dismissed Nilantha Jayawardena, then head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), for disregarding prior warnings of an impending attack by Islamic extremists.
Court records show that Jayawardena had been alerted to a possible terror strike 17 days before the coordinated suicide attacks on April 21, 2019, which targeted three hotels and three churches.
More than 500 people were also wounded in the bombings.
Jayawardena had been found guilty on all seven counts of negligence and dereliction of duty by a disciplinary inquiry led by a retired judge, the police commission said late Saturday.
“Considering the gravity of the charges, the Commission decided to give him the maximum punishment,” the statement said.
Following the Easter bombings, Sri Lanka’s worst terror attack on civilians, Jayawardena was removed from his position as SIS chief but elevated to the role of deputy head of the police force, overseeing administration.
However, he was placed on compulsory leave a year ago, pending a disciplinary hearing, after repeated judicial orders to take action against him.
A top-level investigation initiated shortly after the attack found that then-president Maithripala Sirisena and four of his senior officials, including Jayawardena, should face criminal prosecution for their lapses.
In accordance with Supreme Court orders issued in January 2023 following a civil case, they have paid just over US$1mil in damages to the victims. The 2019 bombings were blamed on a local group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
Sri Lanka’s new government, under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has vowed to step up investigations into the Easter attacks and uncover those responsible for the bombings. — AFP
