The Officer in Charge (OIC) of Katana Police Station has admitted that they had failed to provide the necessary police protection requested by the father of St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya for the church’s Easter services last year.

This was revealed before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on 2019 Easter Attacks, which met yesterday (16).

On May 15, Negombo ASP Sisira Kumara appeared before the Commission and claimed that when he arrived at the Katana Police Station on April 19 after receiving warning letters on the attacks, the relevant file folder was already in the desk of the then-Katana OIC. He discussed the documents with the OIC, he said.

When inquired who was then responsible for the events, ASP Sisira Kumara stated that even though the information was confined to a piece of paper, he and others too were partly responsible for it.

Following ASP Sisira Kumara, an intelligence officer of the Negombo Division, whose name was not disclosed to the media, testified before the Commission.

He stated that Former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of the Negombo Division, Chandana Athukorala requested a report on the events from him. Further SSP Athukorala had submitted a letter dated April 18, 2019, on April 25, 2019, that there had been no warning of an attack.

Subsequently, former Katana OIC Kosala Chaminda Navaratne, who served the station at the time of attacks, appeared before the Commission yesterday (16).

He first testified that father of the Kandawala Church requested security from him and not the father of the Katuwapitiya Church, before admitting that the father of the Katuwapitiya Church had, in fact, requested him police protection for the church’s Easter services on April 20, 2019.

Further, SSP Chandana Athukorala had called the OIC at 7.30 pm that night and instructed him to ‘not let anything happen’ and ‘alert the night duty’.

Accordingly, officers who had been on patrol duty on April 20 night were sent security at the Kandawala and Katuwapitiya churches.

Once the Easter service ended on April 20 night, the officers on duty at the churches were then deployed to ensure the security in the area, disclosed the OIC.

When the Commission inquired why police protection was not provided for the morning mass, the OIC claimed that he was not aware of a morning mass.