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STF kept in the dark about foreign intelligence warning, threat posed by Zahran, NTJ, etc., – Ex-SDIG Latheef
Easter Sunday carnage probe:
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara or former Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena had not properly conveyed the reliable intelligence information about the possible terrorist attacks to the Special Task Force (STF), retired Commandant of the STF, Senior DIG M.R. Latheef, on Saturday, told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) investigating the Easter Sunday attacks.
Latheef said the STF had the experience and the capability of neutralizing threats posed by terrorists. If he had been informed of the reliable intelligence information that the SIS had received on April 20, 2019,. the STF would have been able to lock down the Colombo City, arrest the terrorists and neutralise the threat.
Latheef said that on April 09, 2019, the former IGP had sent a letter informing the STF Headquarter of the foreign information of a possible terror attack and it had been received at 6.45 pm, Latheef said, adding that he had returned to the country, following a training programme in France on April 10. After his return, he had called the IGP before going to office and asked if there were any important developments, SDIG Latheef said. However, Jayasundara had told him that there wasn’t anything special.
However, when he arrived at the office, he had seen the letter sent by the IGP and informed STF officers deployed with VIP security squads including those of the President and the Prime Minister and STF officers in charge of various divisions of the letter.
The Attorney General’s representative leading the evidence asked the witness whether the foreign warning of the possible terror attack, received on April 04, 2019 by the SIS, had been discussed or mentioned when Latheef met the Defence Secretary or the IGP, between April 10 and 20.
Latheef checked his service record book and said that he had met Fernando and Jayasundara on April 11. However, neither of them had spoken to him about the information of the possible terrorist attacks. He also said that certain individuals had told the Parliament Select Committee on the Easter Attacks that they had discussed the developments at issue on April 18, 2019. However, since he was out of the country between April 15 and 18, for a conference on drug eradication, such a meeting could not have happened, the witness said.
SDIG Latheef said that on April 19, SDIG Jayawardena had spoken to him about an incident in Kattankudy, on April 16, where a motorcycle bomb had detonated. “I told him that I had just got back and that I would deploy officers and file a report on this. On April 20, I called Nilantha. I told him that it was a test run and that such an explosion could lead to the loss of many lives. I said an explosives laden bike could be brought to populous areas.”
However, it was only after the April 21 attacks that information on Islamic extremists had been shared with the STF in a systematic and meaningful way, the witness said. If the IGP had reposed any trust in him and the STF, this information could have been shared earlier.
“Others had been told of Zahran Hashim. I only got to know about Zahran and the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) only after we were summoned to the National Security Council (NSC) after the attack. I was only given the first report by a foreign intelligence source and it contained limited information. But much more in-depth information was shared between SIS Director and the IGP. Apparently, the names, their connections and their whereabouts had all been shared between senior officers.”
Latheef said that he had asked former ministers Sagala Ratnayake and Ranjith Maddumabandara to invite them to the NSC meetings. At that time, the STF was at the forefront of drug eradication, but it had not been even invited to the Intelligence Coordination Meeting. “If the STF had been properly briefed on April 09, 2019, we would have had almost two weeks to neutralise the threat,” the witness said.
“I called the SIS Director on April 20 to inform him of the bicycle bomb. He didn’t tell me that he had reliable information that a terrorist attack was expected to take place on April 21. If I had been informed of the imminent attack, I would have sealed off Colombo and the Western Province. We could have placed road blocks and implemented contingency plans; we would have been able to arrest one or two and neutralise the threat. I am still perplexed why I wasn’t informed of the warning at least on April 20.”
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PCoI on Easter Sunday attacks:
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC is not bound by recommendations made by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (P CoI) into the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, or presidential directives in that regard, according to authoritative sources.
They said that the AG couldn’t under any circumstances initiate legal proceedings until he had received the full PCoI report.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received the PCoI report on Feb 1. The President’s Office delivered a set of PCoI reports to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Feb 23, a day after the report was presented to the cabinet of ministers. The Island raised the matter with relevant authorities in the wake of a section of the media reporting the PCoI recommending punitive measures against former President Maithripala Sirisena, Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, IGP Pujitha Jayasundera, Chief of State Intelligence Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena, Chief of National Intelligence retired DIG Sisira Mendis and All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader and Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Rishad Bathiudeen et al over the Easter Sunday carnage.
Sources pointed out that due to the inordinate delay in sharing the PCoI report with the AG, the department hadn’t been able to take preliminary measures required to initiate the proceedings. Sources said that a team of officers would take at least six weeks or more to examine the report before tangible measures could be taken.
With the AG scheduled to retire on May 24, 2021, even if the AG Department received the P CoI it would be quite a tough task to initiate proceedings ahead of retirement, sources said. However, in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution enacted in last October, both the AG and the IGP could receive extensions beyond 60 at the President’s discretion.
Dappula de Livera received an Acting appointment as the AG a week after the Easter Sunday carnage whereas his predecessor Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, was elevated to Chief Justice.
Responding to another query, sources said that the Attorney General two weeks ago requested Secretary to the President for a copy of the P CoI. However, the AG was yet to receive one, sources said. In spite of the AG not receiving a P CoI copy, the AG had instructed the IGP to obtain a copy of the report when he requested the police to complete investigations into the Easter Sunday carnage. The AG issued specific instructions after having examined police files pertaining to the investigations.
The IGP, too, hadn’t received a copy so far though some sections of the report were in the public domain.
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage displayed at a live political programme on Derana a copy of the P CoI report he received at the cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
Sources said that the Attorney General’s Department couldn’t decide on a course of action in respect of the Easter carnage on the basis of a section of the report. In terms of the Commission of Inquiry Act (Section 24), the AG enjoyed significant powers/authority in respect of investigations; sources said adding that the Department urgently required both the P CoI report and police investigations report. The Attorney General’s Department has raised the delay in receiving a P CoI report amidst the Catholic Church attacking the government over the same issue.
Sources said that ministerial committee appointed to study the P CoI report couldn’t decide on how to proceed with the recommendations and the matter was entirely in the hands of the AG. Sources pointed out that the delay on the part of the government to release the report had received the attention of sections of the international media, including the New York Times. Public Security Minister retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera having met Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith at the Bishop’s House on Dec 8, 2020 said that the AG would get a copy of the P CoI report once the President received it. Minister Weerasekera said that the CID had handed over the relevant files after having completed investigations into eight blasts. Referring to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) report on the Easter Sunday carnage, the former Navy Chief of Staff said that all such documents would have to be brought to one place and considered before initiating legal proceedings. Acknowledging that there could be delays, lawmaker Weerasekera said that on the instructions of the Attorney General a 12-member team of lawyers was working on the case. The minister vowed to expose the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks. Investigations continued while some of those wanted were overseas, the minister said.
The minister acknowledged that the Attorney General couldn’t proceed without the P CoI report. Minister Weerasekera reiterated that once the President received the P CoI report, it would be sent to the Attorney General. The minister said that there were documents two to three feet high that needed scrutiny. The minister assured comprehensive investigation. The minister said that investigations pertaining to eight blasts had been completed and the reports handed over to the AG. However, the Attorney General had found shortcomings in those investigations.
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By Saman Indrajith
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Sunday bombings had failed to identify the mastermind of , the JVP said yesterday.
Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath said that the PCoI report had levelled accusations against former President Maithripala Sirisena, former IGP and head of intelligence for their dereliction of duty, shirking of responsibilities and not taking action to prevent the attacks and negligence. There were reference to the causes of the terror attacks and actions to be taken to avoid such attacks and the influence of extremist organisations. “However, there is no mention of the mastermind of the attacks, the handlers of the attackers and those whose interests the carnage served. It is also not mentioned whether there has been any foreign or local organisation behind those attacks. As per the PCoI report the attack took place as a result of culmination of extremism.
“According to the PCoI the extremist activities were a result of the prevailing political situation then. The entire nation was waiting to see who was responsible and who masterminded those attacks. The PCoI has failed to identify the true culprits responsible for the terror attacks. The report says that the leader of the suicide cadres killed himself in the attacks and it was a puzzle. That means those who are actually responsible for the attacks are still at large. The report does not provide exact details of the sources of the attacks. The PCoI had sittings for one year and five months. It summoned various persons and got their statements but it has failed to shed any light on the terror attacks. Everybody knows that the top leaders of the government and heads of security and intelligence establishments failed in their duties. Ranil Wickremesinghe was the second in command and he too is bound by the responsibility but the PCoI report fails to identify him as one of the persons against whom legal action should be instituted. The PCoI has treated Wickremesinghe and former President Maithripala Sirisena differently. We are not telling that this report is a total failure but we cannot accept this as a complete report. The PCoI handed over its report to the President on Feb 1. After 23 days it was sent to Parliament. Now, a copy of the report is there in the parliamentary library for the perusal of MPs.”
Herath said that the PCoI did not have powers to take punitive action. “It only has powers to name those responsible and recommend action to be taken against those named.
