Testifying before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the Easter Sunday Attacks Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundera yesterday (23) said the former Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena had stated at the Security Council that all open investigations into Muslim extremists by the police should be stopped and that investigations would be carried out under the then Chief of State Intelligence Nilantha Jayawardena.

Although the Independent Police Commission was enacted by the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, the former President Maithripala Sirisena was politically involved in the transfer of police officers and certain official duties, the suspended IGP said.

Jayasundera testified that he did not go against the orders of the former President and that when he informed Sirisena about Muslim extremism, the then President had instructed him to "be very careful as this is a very sensitive matter".

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