COLOMBO – Sri Lankan police arrested their top commander and a formerdefence chief Tuesday over their alleged failures to prevent the EasterSunday bombings that killed 258 people, spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said.
He said Inspector-General Pujith Jayasundara and former defence secretaryHemasiri Fernando were arrested a day after the attorney general said theirfailure to heed security warnings amounted to a crime against humanity.
Both men were at different hospitals undergoing treatment when detectivesarrested them, Gunasekera said, adding the move followed instructions fromAttorney General Dappula de Livera who said they could press murder charges.
De Livera said Monday that they failed to act on advance warnings of thedeadly Easter Sunday attacks, which were blamed on a local jihadi group.
They should be brought before a magistrate for their “criminal negligence”de Livera said in a letter to the acting police chief.
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“Their negligence amounts to what is known under international law to begrave crimes against humanity,” he wrote.
Another nine senior police officers have been named by the attorney-generalas suspects who should be prosecuted for their role in the security lapses.
Jayasundara and Fernando have testified before a parliamentary inquiry andaccused President Maithripala Sirisena of failing to follow establishedprotocols in assessing threats to national security.
