Sri Lanka's ex-president Maithripala Sirisena summoned by Easter attack probe panel

Sri Lanka’s former president Maithripala Sirisena has reportedly been summoned by a presidential probe panel on August 26 in a bid to record his statement on last year’s deadly Easter attacks. The recent development comes after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who pledged an independent probe in the incident during his election campaign, assumed office. As per reports, the same panel, which was appointed by Sirisena, has been ordered to continue the investigation. 

Last year on Easter Sunday, nine suicide bombers, belonging to local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels. The blasts reportedly killed nearly 258 people, including 11 Indians. Back then, the previous government headed by Sirisena and former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe was blamed for its inability to prevent the attacks despite prior intelligence made available on the impending attack. 

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As the panel continues to investigate the case further, last week, the officials even summoned Wickremesinghe to appear before it on August 18. Apart from the former PM and President, two of the senior officials, Sagala Ratnayake and Ruwan Wijewardena, who were responsible for the police and defence in the government, have also reportedly been summoned by the panel. 

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Ex-PM says Sirisena excluded him from NSC deliberations 

As Wickremesinghe suffered a crushing defeat in the August 5 parliamentary elections, it is believed that the deadly Easter attack was one of the main reasons for his government’s loss. As per reports, Wickremesinghe’s government was blamed for the failure to prevent the attack despite warnings from India. Back then, public outrage also mounted against the then ruling party. 

According to reports, the then-police chief and the top defence ministry bureaucrat were also remanded for their criminal negligence. Wickremesinghe, on the other hand, defended himself by reportedly saying that due to the political differences, Sirisena while holding the defence ministry control had excluded him from the National Security Council deliberations. 

(Image: @vernacurlartube/Twitter) 

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