Sri Lanka's Ex-Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera Indicted In 2019 Easter Sunday Terror Attack

A total of 855 charges of criminal negligence were leveled against Jayasundera since the Sri Lankan High Court had initiated trial proceedings in the case. The case has more than 1,200 witnesses

New Delhi: Charges of criminal negligence were framed on Monday against Sri Lanka's former police chief Pujith Jayasundera for failing to act despite prior intelligence inputs about the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attack in Sri Lanka. Around 270 people, including 11 Indians, were killed in these terrorist attacks.

According to a report in news agency PTI, a total of 855 charges of criminal negligence were leveled against Jayasundera since the Sri Lankan High Court had initiated trial proceedings in the case. The case has more than 1,200 witnesses, lawyers told PTI. Jayasundera, who pleaded not guilty, was present in the courtroom when the charges framed against him were read out.

As per PTI, Jayasundera's lawyers insisted that the former inspector general was not guilty of ignoring intelligence. Similar allegations are leveled against former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, who was a key member of the Defense Ministry at the time of the attack in April 2019.

Jayasundara and Fernando were suspended from service and arrested in connection with the case. However, he was later released on bail. The two were accused by the then President Maithripala Sirisena for their alleged failure to stop the attacks despite prior intelligence being available.

The police had registered more than 23,000 charges against the suspects for planning, aiding and abetting the attack. Nine suicide bombers belonging to the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ), a local Islamist extremist group affiliated with ISIS, carried out a series of bombings on three churches and several luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, killing at least 270 people and over 500 were injured.

During his tenure, President Sirisena had set up a presidential panel to investigate the attacks. Sirisena himself, along with several other top defense officials, including Fernando and Jayasundara, were found guilty of ignoring prior intelligence in the President's Special Investigation. The panel's report recommended criminal action against them.