COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan court released the country's police chief on bail hours after he was arrested for allegedly threatening a worker at police headquarters two years ago. Pujith Jayasundara has been under suspension for alleged negligence leading to suicide bomb attacks on Easter Sunday that killed more than 260 people.
It was unclear why Jayasundara was arrested two years after allegedly threatening an elevator operator at the police headquarters. Jayasundara had previously testified before a parliamentary committee that President Maithripala Sirisena asked him to resign to take responsibility for the April 21 bomb blasts at churches and hotels and promised to have his name cleared in any subsequent inquiry.
He also told the commission that Sirisena asked him not to attend National Security Council meetings after a spat between Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last year.
Jayasundara was later suspended and is facing a court case over allegations that he failed to act on near-specific intelligence before the blasts. The Easter suicide attacks have been blamed on two local Muslim groups inspired by the Islamic State group.
