President Sirisena Instructs Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando And IGP Pujith Jayasundara To Resign With Immediate Effect

President Maithripala Sirisena has reportedly asked Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and IGP Pujith Jayasundara to resign from their current positions. 

The move has come amidst allegations that both Fernando and Jayasundara neglected their duties when they did not act on information sent by foreign intelligence agencies on possible terror attacks in Sri Lanka. 

Addressing the nation yesterday, President Sirisena promised changes to the top positions in the defence apparatus in 24 hours. 

It is widely speculated that a former Army Commander will be appointed the new Defence Ministry Secretary. 

Meanwhile, Parliamentarian Wijedasa Rajapakshe has written a letter to President Sirisena requesting him to arrest the Defence Ministry Secretary and IGP Pujith Jayasundara over their failure to avert the Easter Sunday attacks. 

Rajapakshe, a former Justice Minister, said the Defence Ministry Secretary and the Police Chief, neglected the intelligence reports which indicated about possible terrir attacks in SriLanka. 

In his letter, Rajapakshe had stated that both Fernando and Jayasundara were responsible for the failure in the intelligence system.