THOSE WHO GOVERNED & HEADED SECURITY DURING EASTER ATTACKS 2019
Posted on April 27th, 2026
Shenali Waduge
THOSE WHO GOVERNED & HEADED SECURITY DURING EASTER ATTACKS 2019
· President (Minister of Defence) – MAITHRIPALA SIRISENA-2015-2019
· Prime Minister – RANIL WICKREMASINGHE -2015-2019
· Defense Secretary – HEMASIRI FERNANDO -Jan 2018-May 2019
Police Leadership
· IGP – Pujith Jayasundara – 2016 – October 2019
Intelligence Services
· Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) – Sisra Mendis – 2015-2019
· Head of State Intelligence Service (SIS) – Nilantha Jayawardena Mar 2015 – Dec 2019
Criminal Investigation Department
· Senior DIG CID – Ravi Seneviratne – 2015 – July 2019
· Director CID – Shani Abeysekera –2015 SSP / 2017 – Director CID to July 2019
TID (Terrorism Investigation Division) leadership / reporting to IGP
· Director TID – DIG Nalaka de Silva – Feb 2015 – Oct 2018 (interdicted)
· SSP W S E Jayasundera Dec 2018 to Apr 2019 (4 months)
· After May 2019 TID placed under CID SDIG Ravi Seneviratne (he headed CID & TID)
Commander of the Army
· Lt. Gen. Chrishantha de Silva – 2015 – 2017 (Jan)
· Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake – 2017-2019 (Aug) – During Easter attacks
Commander of the Navy
· Admiral Jayantha Perera – Jul 2014 to Jul 2015
· Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne – July 2015 – August 2017
· Admiral Travis Sinniah – August 2017 – October 2017
· Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe – October 2017 – December 2018
· Admiral Piyal De Silva – January 2019 – July 2020 (during Easter attacks)
· Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne – July 2020 – December 2022
Commander of the Air Force
· Air Chief Marshal Kolitha Gunathilake – Feb 2014-Jun 2015
· Air Chief Marshal Gagan Bulathsinghala – Jun 2015 – Sept 2016
· Air Marshal Kapila Jayampathy – Sept 2016 – May 2019 (during Easter attacks)
· Air Chief Marshal Sumangala Dias – May 2019 – Nov 2020
· Air Chief Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana – Nov 2020 – Jun 2023
Attorney General
· Jayantha Jayasuriya – Jan 2016 to 29 April 2019
· Dappula de Livera – 29 April 2019 to May 2021
THEY KNEW
2015 – Decision to monitor ISIS network
2016 – Wijayadasa Rajapakse on 32 Sri Lankans joining ISIS Syria
2017 – SIS flags radicalizing trends to Def Sec / surveillance authorized
2017 – July Arrest warrant for Zaharan Batticoloa magistrate/Jun 2017 TID opens file
2018 – Sri Lankan with AlQaeda links arrested in Turkey/Pakistan warning/Mawanella
2018 – 2 July TID B report / Colombo Magistrate issues Open Warrant on Zaharan.
2018 – 7 Jul – TID sends Zaharan file to AGs dept – no action taken
2018 – 9 July onwards CID takes over Zaharan case
2019 – Jan Wanathawilluwa camp / weapons
2019 – April 2 onwards Indian intel briefs giving targets, names of attackers බලයේ සිටි ආරක්ෂක ප්රධානින් මෙතරම් සහරාන් ගැන දැන සිටියත් / විදෙස් අනතුරු ඇගවීම් තිබිය දීත්මුකුත් නොකරේ ඇයි