The Island/ANN - Police had not ruled out the possibility of another attack by Islamic extremists, former head of PSD and SDIG Southern Province, Rohan Silva yesterday told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) investigating the Easter Sunday bombings.
Silva said so in answer to a question posed by a commissioner whether there was still Islamic extremist activity.
The SDIG Southern Province said that a training camp run by National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) had been found in Hambantota in 2019 and that there were extremists operating in some areas of the South.
"For example there are several activists around Matara. Last week, we arrested a resident of Trincomalee near a mosque in Matara."
Silva said that there had been clashes between two Muslim groups in Ginthota, one group is supported by the Sinhalese. "The group that had a mix of Muslims and Sinhalese attacked the other group over extremist activities."
The police were also closely monitoring the situation at Mahamodara, Galle, where extremist activists were operating, Senior DIG Silva said. They had taken necessary action to keep the situation under control.
Silva, who headed the PSD in April 2019, said that the State Intelligence Service (SIS) had not informed them of a potential attack by Zahran Hashim and his associates, despite meeting its officer twice in April before the attacks.
During his tenure, a monthly intelligence meeting had been held with the participation of all intelligence agencies and senior policemen, Silva said. While there were general warnings of Islamic extremist activities in SIS reports, there was no mention of specific threats or details of any activities.
"We were told that 28 Sri Lankan Muslims had gone to Syria and died there. There were also reports that NTJ leader Zahran Hashim was posting videos on social media urging Muslims to kill members of other religions to establish a caliphate in Sri Lanka and that his supporters were watching those videos. The SIS reports were vague."
Silva said that on 12 April 2019, former President Maithripala Sirisena attended a rally in Batticaloa and SIS Director Nilantha Jayawardena had sent a classified letter on April 10, 2019 about the security in Batticaloa, he said. The letter stated that there was no clear security threat but the PSD should be vigilant in certain areas.
"The letter said that there were ISIS followers in the area. But there was no mention of an immediate threat," the witness informed the Commission.
However on April 09, 2019 then SIS Director Sisira Mendis had sent a letter to the IGP, with copies to CNI and CID, warning that National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) leader Zahran Hashim and his associates were planning a suicide attack.
"If I had been informed of this, I would have advised President not to visit Batticaloa. If SIS had received such information, it should have told me. It’s their responsibility."
The Senior DIG added that SIS Director Nilantha Jayawardena had called him a few days before the Easter Sunday attacks to inquire about Sirisena’s personal visit to Singapore.
"Did he tell you anything about the planned attack by Zahran?" a commissioner asked.
"No," the witness said
"Do you think this was a serious issue?" the chairman of the commission asked.
"Yes. I should have been told. Nilantha could have called me and told me. In fact, we even organized a new year festival for VIP security officers at Kumbuka, Horana on April 21. I was at the event when, I heard about the attacks."
Silva said he had called President Sirisena and informed him of the attacks. At that time Sirisena didn’t seem to be aware of the attacks. After Silva briefed Sirisena on the attacks, the latter said he would call then Defence Secretary, Hemasiri Fernando and hung up, the witness said.
Soldiers cleaning the environs of Kumburupiddi Tamil Mixed School in Thiriyaya, Trincomalee to eliminate dengue breeding grounds. Troops under the 221 Brigade of the 22 Division of the Security Force Headquarters - East as part of their community projects carried out dengue prevention campaigns covering Kumburupiddi Tamil Mixed School, Vivekananda Tamil Maha Vidyalaya and Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya. Navy, Police, Civil Security Department personnel and staff at the Governor’s Office Trincomalee, Public Health Inspectors, teachers and parents also joined hands with the troops for the project.
