I have technical evidence to prove my innocence: Fmr. SIS Director

Former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director Nilantha Jayawardena today informed the PCoI probing Easter Sunday attacks that he has technical evidence to prove his innocence if any official was claiming that the SIS had not done its part properly with regard to the coordinated terror attacks.

Testifying before the Commission, SDIG Jayawardena said the SIS was well aware about of National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) and its Leader Zaharan Hashim's extremist practices.

"Since 2016, the SIS had taken steps to inform issues related to Islamic extremism, specially to the National Security Council (NSC). It was a problematic situation if officials in these security agencies were not aware about Zaharan and his extremist practices," he said.

Mr. Jayawardena further added that there were officers and gentlemen before the Easter Sunday attacks who served at these security agencies including the NSC but now there were only individuals.

Mr. Jayawardena said that the SIS had requested the NSC to deploy a special team to arrest Zaharan in 2018. "If the NSC had acted on the information provided, Zaharan and his group would have not been able to conduct a coordinated terror attack," he said. (Yoshitha Perera)