Sri Lankan President has demanded the resignation of the defence secretary and the country's police chief after they failed to prevent the deadly Easter Sunday suicide blasts though they had prior intelligence inputs on the impending attack, media reports said Wednesday.

President Sirisena has asked Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara to resign from their posts, reported, quoting sources close to the president.

Shiral Lakthilaka, advisor to the President also confirmed that the President asked for the resignation of Fernando, and the police chief, Jayasundara.

He added that constitutionally the president does not have the authority to dismiss the police chief.

On Wednesday, Sri Lanka's opposition MP Wijedasa Rajapaksa told a press conference that he forwarded a letter to President Sirisena asking him to arrest both Fernando and Jayasundara.

Sirisena last night said that the people were questioning why action had not been taken by the top security officials despite the availability of intelligence support from a friendly neighbouring country.

Former Army Commander Daya Ratnayake is being considered for the post of Defence Secretary, the paper added.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the devastating Easter blasts in Sri Lanka and identified the seven suicide bombers who were involved in the attacks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)