Lankan defence secy, police chief told to quit

Colombo, April 24 

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has asked Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and country’s police chief Pujith Jayasundara to resign after their failure to prevent the deadly blasts despite having the prior intelligence inputs about the attacks, a media report said on Wednesday.

In his address to the nation for the first time since the  blasts that killed 359 people and wounded more than 500 others, Sirisena last night said he would make changes in top positions in the security establishment within the next 24 hours.

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

Sirisena said 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 (IS) has claimed responsibility for the devastating blasts.

9 bombers, including a woman, involved: Police   

Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, were involved in the massive Easter Sunday bombings, a top police officer said on Wednesday. 

Suicide bombers, believed to be members of a local Islamist extremist group, carried out the blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday.

The state minister of defence, Ruwan Wijewardena, said the multiple bomb attacks were carried out not by the National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) but by its splinter group. Sri Lanka's government had earlier blamed the blasts on the NTJ.

Wijewardena told reporters that the members of the group had differences and the final attack was carried out by a group that left the main NTJ.

The Islamic State (IS) terror group had claimed the attack, although it did not provide direct evidence of its involvement. Wijewardena said there was no evidence at present whether the splinter group had any foreign connections. 

Sixty people have been arrested for possible links to the multiple attacks. Of them, 32 are in custody with the CID. All of those arrested are of Sri Lankan nationality, Gunasekara said. 

The Ministry of Education said the reopening of schools had been put off till April 29. A state of emergency remains in effect to prevent further attacks. The emergency powers allow the security forces to crackdown in law and order breaches by sudden searches of property, arrests and detention of people indefinitely. — PTI 

Mortal remains of 9 Indians repatriated

The mortal remains of nine out of 10 Indians killed in the Easter Sunday bombings have been sent to India. India’s High Commission here released the details of the repatriation of mortal remains in a series of tweets. The victims include SR Nagaraj, H Shivakumar, KG Hanumantraiyappa, KM Lakshminarayana, M Rangappa, V Tulasi Ram, A Maregowda, H Puttaraju and R Lakshman Gowda, according to the Indian mission. Four separate planes carrying the mortal remains of the nine Indians landed in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Police said as many as 34 foreign nationals, who lost their lives, have been identified. PTI