Resignation demanded to create scapegoat: IGP

Friday, 7 June 2019 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

IGP and Defence Secy say unfair to be told to step down as one person could not be held responsible for attacks

President Maithripala Sirisena had asked IGP Pujith Jayasundera to accept responsibility for the failure to avert the Easter Sunday attacks and resign from his post, a Parliamentary Committee was told yesterday.

The IGP, who gave evidence before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) looking into the attacks, said that in return, he was offered an ambassadorial post.

“I was told that there would be a Presidential Committee to probe the incident, and I would be found guilty, and I would then have to go home without my pension. The President asked me to resign and offered an ambassadorial post in return, if I complied with the instructions. I did not accept the offer, so the President sent the letter sending me on compulsory leave,” the IGP said.

The IGP said the attacks happened as a result of a national security protocol failure, but he has been made the scapegoat.

Former Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando confirmed that IGP Pujith Jayasundera had been asked by the President to resign, and to accept the responsibility for the failure to prevent the attacks.

“After I was told of this by the IGP, I met the President and tendered my resignation. I did this because it is unethical for me to stay on when a person who was reporting to me is asked to resign, in a situation where one person can’t be held responsible for what happened,” Fernando said.

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