Colombo, July 3: Sri Lanka's CID on Tuesday arrested former defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando and ex-police chief Pujith Jayasundera. This development comes a day after Attorney General (AG) instructed authorities to book them for their failure to prevent serial bomb blasts which rocked the island nation and claimed 258 lives. Sri Lanka Blasts: Catholics Hold First Sunday Mass Post Easter Blasts in Colombo.

President Maithripala Sirisena had suspended Jayasundera and Fernando for their alleged inaction on the information shared by India, which warned of an attack by Islamic militants and thereby failing to prevent the attack which resulted in an Easter terror attack on April 21, 2019. India Issues Travel Advisory to Sri Lanka After Easter Sunday Bombings, Says 'Avoid Non-Essential Travel'.

During the time of arrest, the duo was undergoing treatment at different hospitals. Fernando was arrested from the Colombo National Hospital while Jayasundara was taken into custody at the Police Hospital. On Monday, AG Dappula de Livera in a letter to acting police chief said that both should be tried for “grave crimes against humanity” as they failed to prevent tragedy.

On April 21 serial attacks, over 250 people were killed in eight suicide attack carried by National Thowheed Jammath (NTJ), local Jihadi group, linked to ISIS. The suicide serial attacks were one of the deadliest in the history on mankind.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2019 12:07 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).