Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena Names New Police Chief

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday named a new police chief and appointed a new advisor to the Defence Ministry. Senior Deputy Inspector General C.D. Wickremeratne, the second-in-command in the police force, has been appointed the acting Inspector General and former Inspector General N.K. Illangakoon has been appointed an advisor to the Defence Ministry, the President’s office said.

Sirisena last week blamed intelligence failures for the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 253 people and promised a major shake-up in the country’s security apparatus, Efe news reported. He had sought resignations from Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and IGP Pujith Jayasundara amid growing public outrage over the government’s apparent failure to act on intelligence reports indicating that Islamist groups were planning to target churches in the island nation. The Defence Secretary resigned on April 25. (IANS)

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