Easter Bombings: Who knew, but turned a blind eye?

Colombo (News 1st): Many factions claim that they knew of the attacks that claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent Sri Lankans during Easter Mass. If these people were aware of these attacks, could they not have saved the lives of the more than 300 victims? Documents purporting to display prior knowledge of authorities on an attack at a number of important churches in Colombo and the Office of the Indian High Commissioner were in circulation during the past few days. A letter containing these details was sent to the Inspector General of Police by the head of the National Intelligence Unit Sisira Mendis, on behalf of the Defence Secretary, on April 9th. The letter sent by Sisira Mendis states that the attacks may take the form of suicide bombings, shootings, stabbings, and truck attacks. This letter was sent to the Inspector General of Police along with the names of the people suspected of possibly carrying out the attacks. On the same day, April 9th the IGP forwarded this letter to a number of Deputy Inspector Generals of Police. The letter was sent to the Senior DIG in charge of the Western Province, the Director of the Terrorist Eradication and Investigations Division Waruna Jayasundara, Commanding Officer of the Police Special Task Force M.R. Latif, and the DIG in charge of the Special Protection division Priyalal Dasanayake. Ministers and MPs during the past few days claimed that Priyalal Dasanayake had forwarded this letter to directors of divisions functioning under his purview. However, speaking to foreign media, Secretary of Defence noted that the intelligence never indicated that it's going to be an attack of this magnitude. He added that they were talking about one or two isolated incidents. The Hindu Reports Meanwhile, The Hindu reported that the National Investigation Agency had specific intelligence on the serial blasts in Sri Lanka. The report says "while cross-examining an Islamic State sympathiser in Tamil Nadu six months ago, investigators got to know of the terror plot and alerted the authorities concerned to pass on the information to Sri Lanka." Confirming this to The Hindu on April 22, a senior police officer said there was clear information on the plan to trigger blasts which were communicated to Sri Lanka through diplomatic channels. Harsha's Statement to CNN Meanwhile, Speaking to CNN, Non-Cabinet Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Dr Harsha de Silva said the U.S. and India warned of imminent attacks before the Easter bombings.

Journalist: Can you tell me, which foreign intelligence briefed you? Can you tell me how you got the information? Non-Cabinet Min. Harsha de Silva: From what I understand, it came from both India and the U.S. Thats what I hear.

Prime Minister's Statement On the day of the attack (April 21) speaking to the public Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe noted that his main concern is that despite having received prior information of this attack, they did not pay sufficient attention to this matter. Minister Harin Fernando's Statement Meanwhile, Minister Harin Fernando noted that his father who has been hospitalized for a while knew of the attack and requested him not to attend church. Mahinda Rajapaksa's statement Leader of Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa noted that even though their head of security received information on the attack, he worked in isolation.

Despite such statements and somewhat lame excuses, do the prevailing facts not indicate that they were aware of the serial bomb attacks?

If they were aware, should they have not taken the necessary measures to prevent such ruthless attacks from taking place?

Is it not their responsibility to ensure the security of the general public?