A soldier stands guard at St. Anthony’s Shrine during heavy rain, days after a string of suicide bomb attacks on churches and luxury hotels across the island on Easter Sunday, in Colombo, Sri Lanka (REUTERS/Thomas Peter)Sri Lanka police chief Pujith Jayasundara has resigned following attacks in churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed over 250 people on Easter Sunday. President Maithripala Sirisena said Friday “intelligence report (anticipating the terror attack) from ‘friendly nations’ was not shared with him by security officials’.
“The IGP has resigned. He has sent his resignation to the acting defence secretary. I’ll nominate a new IGP soon,” President Maithripala Sirisena told reporters. The resignation comes after the country’s top defence ministry official, defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned on Thursday.
Sirisena said he met the Defence Minister and the police chief in April-May this year but was not informed of any intelligence input on an impending attack. He said the government takes responsibility for the attacks over weakening intelligence service.
The police are looking for 140 people believed to have links with the Islamic State group over the attacks that killed at least 253 people. Sirisena told reporters some Sri Lankan youths had been involved with the extremist group since 2013. In a statement issued through its propaganda ‘Amaq’ news agency, the ISIS had earlier claimed responsibility of the attack, saying “the executors of the attack that targeted citizens of coalition states and Christians in Sri Lanka two days ago were with the group.”
(Inputs from agencies)
