Sri Lankan president suspends defiant police chief over blasts
Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has suspended police chief Pujith Jayasundara, his office announced on Monday after the defiant Inspector General refused to quit taking responsibility for the intelligence failure that led to the massive Easter Sunday bombings.
The police chief can only be removed through a parliamentary procedure and Sirisena's action is the first step towards that, officials said.Senior Deputy Inspector General CD Wickremaratne has been appointed as the acting police chief.
Jayasundara has steadfastly refused to heed Sirisena's call to resign following April 21 coordinated blasts on three churches and three luxury hotels.
The attacks carried out by suicide bombers came in spite of early warnings and the security establishment's failure to take preventive action has come under severe criticism.
Sirisena, who also keeps the defence portfolio with him, said he wanted to revamp the security system and his defence ministry secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned promptly on his request on Thursday.
Deputy Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Nalin Bandara said a motion to remove the police chief will be tabled in Parliament within this week, Sri Lanka Mirror reported.
Noting that the motion will be tabled on the agreement of all government MPs, he hoped to get the backing of opposition MPs as well, it said.
Meanwhile, the police chief has said that he has done nothing wrong and that he would resign if the defence minister resigns as well. Nine suicide bombers carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on the Easter Sunday, killing 253 people and injuring over 500 people.
The Islamic State claimed the attacks, but the government has blamed local extremist group National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) for the attacks.
Sri Lanka on Saturday banned the NTJ and a splinter group linked to the ISIS. A total of 106 suspects, including a Tamil medium teacher and a school principal, have been arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday blasts.
According to Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry, the number of foreign nationals who have been identified as killed remained at 40, including 11 from India.
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West Asia crisis: Rajasthan man goes missing near Oman after Iranian missile hits oil tanker
Jaipur (PTI): A man from Nagaur district in Rajasthan has gone missing after a missile struck an oil tanker he was aboard near Oman amid the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, according to his family members.
The family said they received information that an Iranian missile hit the vessel on the morning of March 1 while it was stationed at Khasab Port, causing significant damage to the ship.
Dalip Singh, the missing crew member, is a resident of Khinwatana village in Nagaur and began his duty on January 22.
He was serving as a crew member on the tanker operated by Skylight Company. At the time of the attack, Dalip was in the forward section of the ship with another crew member, Ashish Kumar, who hailed from Bihar. While Kumar's body has been recovered, Dalip remains untraceable, his brother Devendra Singh said.
Devendra further mentioned that the company informed them that most of the crew members were evacuated safely during the attack. However, Ashish and two others, including Dalip, have gone missing.
He noted that Dalip last spoke to the family on February 28.
Additionally, another man from Nagaur district, Sunil Kumar, was also working on the same vessel. Dalip is said to have taken over duty in the shift after Sunil completed his assignment, Devendra added.
