Sirisena paid no attention to info - Shani

This was revealed when former Director of the CID Shani Abeysekera testified before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Easter Sunday bombings on 21 April 2019, yesterday (26).

He said that he and then Senior DIG of the CID Ravi Seneviratne had informed Sirisena about this on 2 February, 2019 when they visited the former President's official residence at Paget Road in order to record a statement.  SDIG Seneviratne pointed out to the former President that the matter could not be taken lightly and that it should be discussed at the National Security Council (NSC). Then the former President said that an opportunity would be given to Seneviratne to attend the NSC in order to brief on the matter. However, such an opportunity was not given, he added.

Abeysekera also said that he had been asked by former Western Provincial Governor Azath Salley and President's Counsel Faizer Mustapha to release two suspects arrested in connection with the stock of explosives found in the Wanathawilluwa area and that he had rejected the request.

Testifying further, he said that information had come to light that a group, including National Thowheed Jama’ath (NTJ) Leader Zaharan Hashim was planning a large scale attack in May 2019 and that the discovery of the explosives hidden in Wanathawilluwa had averted such a catastrophe.

Meanwhile, when a copy of a report dated 09 April, 2019, submitted to the then IGP, by the State Intelligence Service (SIS), stating that the NTJ could carry out a suicide attack, the witness said that he received it on 23 April, 2019, two days after the bombings. When asked what the reason for the delay was, the witness said that he had not inquired about it.

The Commission inquired at length about the stock of explosives discovered in Wanathawilluwa and Abeysekera said that he felt that a certain group was preparing to carry out some destructive action after the incident. He said that he had informed the then IGP Pujith Jayasundara in writing on three or four occasions in this connection.

Meanwhile, when the Commission questioned him on whether he was aware of the fact that then Coordinating Secretary to former Minister Kabir Hashim, Mohomed Thasleen, was being used as an informant by the CID, the witness said that he was not aware of it. He also said that no information would be provided to senior officials regarding informants.

The Commission also inquired from Abeysekera about the release of two suspects named Mohamed Nafridi and Mohamed Nafees who were arrested in connection with the explosives discovered in Wanathawilluwa. In response, he said he had made a recommendation to the then President to release the two suspects who were being held on detention orders as there wasn’t sufficient evidence against them.

"Accordingly, the suspects were released on six bail conditions on 10 April, 2019 and they appeared before the CID on the last Saturday of every month even after the Easter Sunday bombings," he said.

When asked if there was any pressure from the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) or from any politician to release the said two suspects, the witness said that there was no such pressure. He said that during a meeting, Salley and Mustapha had asked for their release, but he had refused.

Meanwhile, the Commission inquired about when he came to know about Zaharan, as Former Director of the CID. In reply he said he came to know about Zaharan on 17 January, 2019 following the interrogation of suspects arrested in connection with the Wanathawilluwa incident.

He added that he had learned that Zaharan was planning to commit a serious crime. In response to a question from the Commission as to why a team of officers was not deployed to arrest Zaharan, the witness said that the teams investigating the Wanathawilluwa and Mawanella incidents had been deployed full time to arrest Zaharan and other suspects involved in those incidents.

Meanwhile, the Commission asked the witness why the CID, which was able to arrest many significant suspects, was unable to arrest Zaharan. In response, he noted that criminals are usually arrested on the basis of their telephone data reports. However, he said that specific information was not received about the whereabouts of the Zaharan-led group because they used secret communication applications such as 'Threema'. He added that the CID was aware before 21 April, 2019 that they were using such communication methods. We looked into the applications but could not find enough information, said Abeysekera.

Meanwhile, when asked if he, as then CID Director was informed by the CID officers regarding the use of Bathiudeen Ahmed Mohammed alias Army Mohideen as an informant, the witness said that he came to know about it only after the Easter Sunday bombings.