Acting Police Chief appointed after Sri Lankan Police Chief refused to resign on President’s orders

Acting Police Chief appointed after Sri Lankan Police Chief refused to resign on President’s orders

President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena, has appointed an Acting Police Chief after the current Police Chief, Pujith Jayasundara, refused to resign.

The new Acting Police Chief is Chandana Wickramaratne who was the Deputy Inspector General.

Inspector General (IG), Jayasundara, was ordered to resign two days ago after the Sri Lankan intelligence failed to pass on the information on the threat of attacks that took place on 21 April, to the President. Head of Sri Lankan Intelligence, Hemasiri Fernando, resigned after reports came out that Indian intelligence warned of an imminent attack on Sri Lanka days before.

Under Sri Lanka's constitution, only parliament can remove the police chief through a lengthy process designed to shield officers from political interference.

Under Sri Lanka's constitution, only parliament can remove the police chief through a lengthy process designed to shield officers from political interference.

IG Jayasundara, is pick of the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Many has raised concerns that appointing an Acting Police Chief over an existing Police Chief would create a numbers of issues within the institution.