Easter attacks: St. Mary’s Church Priest contradicts SSP Pussella’s statement

Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks heard more evidence today (06) which contradicts statements made by police officers.

It heard that the testimony given by then-SSP of Mount Lavinia Muditha Pussella before the commission saying that there was a meeting on the security of the St. Mary’s Church in Dehiwala prior to the attacks is completely false. 
The statement was given by the parish priest of St. Mary’s Church.

Parish priest of St. Mary’s Church Father Daya Welikadaarachchi gave evidence before the Presidential Commission probing the attacks, today (06).

He told the Commission that he requested from the Officer in Charge of Dehiwala Police in writing, to provide security to the church from April 14 to Easter Sunday (April 21). He added that his request was based on several matters, including the safety of the devotees’ vehicles, possible traffic jams, and previous incidents of theft at the church.

The Commission asked the Father whether a police checkpoint was set up at the church premises. In response, Father Welikadaarachchi said that such a police checkpoint was not set up at the church premises and that the police officers who came to the church for its security frequented a room in the building where the church Sunday School was conducted.

He added that he came to know of the incident through the visuals shown by the church council and afterward, devotees were admitted to the church for the service at 10.15 am following a thorough search. He went on to say that gates and doors of the church were closed and the service was rushed through.

The Commission asked the witness whether there was a discussion on an attack with the area’s top brass of the police and the church council, prior to the attacks. The Father said that there wasn’t one and however added that he saw in a national newspaper that then-SSP of Mount Lavinia Muditha Pussella had told the Presidential Commission that such a discussion did take place.

He then said that the SSP’s admission is completely false. Father Welikadaarachchi went on to say that the statement of SSP Pussella has given rise to a suspicion among the local people that the Father may have known of the attacks in advance and that it had put him in a difficult position.

The Commission then asked the witness, whether the evidence given by SSP Pussella before the Commission is incorrect. While saying that SSP Pussella’s statement is incorrect, the witness said that the discussion SSP Pussellla has alluded to, in fact, took place in December 2019.

The Father noted that during the said discussion, a member of the Church Council asked SSP Pussella, whether there would be an attack on Christmas Day, similar to that of the Easter Sunday.

Furthermore, the Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Church in Dehiwala Father Daya Welikadaarachchi told the commission that he would have informed the Cardinal and taken measures to cancel all masses had he received any information pertaining to an impending attack.