President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday, February 1, received the final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCI) pointed to probe the Easter Sunday attack in 2019.
The final report was handed over to President Rajapaksa by the Chairman of the Commission, Supreme Court Judge, Janak de Silva at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.
The first interim report of the Commission was presented to the President on December 20, 2019 and the second interim report on March 2, 2020.
The Commission was appointed by former President Maithripala Sirisena on September 22, 2019 to investigate and report on the series of terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday and to recommend the necessary action based on the findings.
On April 21, 2019, eight suicide bombers carried out a series of attacks targeting hotels and Catholic churches. Kochchikade St. Anthony’s Church, Katuwapitiya St. Sebastian’s Church, Batticaloa Zion Church, Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand Hotel were targeted. In Dematagoda and Dehiwala, two terrorists committed suicide by detonating bombs.
The series of attacks killed at least 270 people including 45 foreign nationals and injured nearly 500 others.
The Commission recorded evidence from 457 people over a period of 214 days. Among them were members of the political authorities and the security forces, as well as those involved in disaster-related and related activities.
The report consists of 472 pages, 215 attachments and 6 volumes.
Secretary to the President, P. B. Jayasundera; Chief Adviser to the President, Lalith Weeratunga; members of the Commission, Court of Appeal Judge, Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne; retired High Court Judges, Nihal Sunil Rajapaksa and A. L. Bandula Kumara Atapattu; Former Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, W. M.M. R. Adhikari; Secretary to the Commission, H. M. P. Buwaneka Herath were also present at the occasion.
