Ravi Senaviratne or Shani Abeysekera will not be removed for any reason: Minister

Colombo, Oct 22 (Daily Mirror) - Secretary to the Public Security Ministry former Senior Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ravi Senaviratne and Director of Crimes of Sri Lanka Police, former Director CID, SSP Shani Abeysekera will not be removed from their positions for any reasons, Minister Vijitha Herath said today.

He told the weekly media briefing to announce Cabinet decisions that those who had forced to remove the two officials were doing this with vested interests and that the government will not succumb to such attempts.

Responding to a question whether the government will remove the two officials prior to a fresh probe, the Minister said neither the Presidential Commission led by Supreme Court Judge Janak de Silva nor the Parliament Select Committee (PSC) had held Ravi Senaviratne or Shani Abeysekera as being responsible for the Easter Sunday bomb attacks.

He said even the Supreme Court in its judgment on the Fundamental Rights petition filed by victims of the Easter Sunday bomb attacks had not convicted any of them, adding that only former President Maithripala Sirisena, Chief of State Intelligence Service (Sri Lanka) Nilantha Jayawardena and former IGP Pujith Jayasundara were convicted in the case.

The Minister said, however, that the government will not hesitate to take action against any officials if found guilty following a proper investigation.