Friday 18 / July / 2025
Colombo: Every household in Sri Lanka will be searched as the country continues its efforts to curb terrorism in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings.
Speaking to the heads of media on the island, President Maithripala Sirisena said, "Major search operation has been undertaken. Every household in the country will be checked.
"The lists of permanent residents of every house will be established to ensure no unknown persons can live anywhere", he added, citing similar methods had been used in the past to combat the LTTE. The current State of Emergency, he stated, would allow them to do so.
Sirisena also claimed inquiries into war crimes committed during Sri Lanka's civil war had weakened the armed forces.
"When we fought against the LTTE, only a few countries supported us while the majority of the international community identified it as a 'radical movement' siding with Human Rights campaigners.
"They too contributed to weaken the Intelligence Service and the Tri-Forces."
Sirisena also expressed his dissapointment that intelligence from India about a possible attack had not been properly handled.
"India had given warning on 4 April and it contained a name list and many vital information as you are already aware. From 4-12 April no action had been taken except passing the letter to one another. The letter was passed to the Defense Secretary, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and five DIGs had forwarded it to VIP Security Chief and others have not acted."
"Neither the Defense Secretary nor the IGP informed me. They met me on the Sinhala and Tamil New Year to offer a sheaf of betel leaves. They at least could have told me then. Had they called me while I was in India, I would have immediately returned."
The president said that he first learned of the attacks on social media while in Singapore an hour after they occurred.
"After the attacks my attention was drawn to a letter circulating on social media. That was the letter sent by DIG Dasanayanke to the VIP chief. I too saw it for the first time while in Singapore. Neither my security head or the Prime Minister's Security Chief had been informed," he added.
Detailing the events of a National Security Council meeting on 22 April, Sirisena stated, "I asked the assembly who would take responsibility. Both the IGP and Defense Secretary remained silent looking down. On Wednesday, when I summoned the IGP to ask him to resign, I asked again why he did not call or inform me. He admitted that it was a lapse on his part. Had it been any other country, both of them could have been in jail."
Responding to questions, Army Commander Lt-Gen Mahesh Sennayake stated that the Army Intelligence Unit was not aware of India's letter until the bombings occurred.
Commenting on the social media ban in Sri Lanka, Sirisena said fake news and false alarms spread by messages were continuing to disrupt life on the island.
"Those who spread such fake alarms will be traced and arrested under the provisions of the State of Emergency. This was the reason why we blocked several social media platforms."
