PCoI report on April Attacks handed over to President

Colombo (News 1st); The final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to probe the 2019 April 21st Attacks was handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday (01).

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry concluded the recording of evidence in late January 2021. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry submitted its first interim report on the 20th of December 2019 and the second interim report on the 02nd of March 2020. The five-member Presidential Commission of Inquiry was appointed via an Extraordinary Gazette by then-President Maithripala Sirisena on the 22nd of September 2019. On the 21st of April 2019, 08 suicide bombers carried out a series of attacks targeting churches and hotels in the country. The attacks were on the St. Anthony’s Shrine in Kochchikade, Colombo - St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, Zion Church in Batticaloa, Shangri-La hotel, Kingsbury Hotel, and Cinnamon Grand Hotel. Suicide bombers also killed themselves at the Dematagoda housing complex and Tropical Inn in Dehiwala. Around 270 people lost their lives and more than 500 people were injured. The five-member Commission is chaired by Court of Appeal Justice Janak de Silva and comprises CA Judge Nissanka Bandula Karunarathna, CA Judge (retd) Nihal Sunil Rajapaksa, High Court Judge (retd) Atapattu Liyanage Bandula Kumara Atapattu, and W.M. Mangalika Adikari, a Retired Ministry Secretary. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry commenced the recording of evidence on the 31st of October 2019. The PCoI convened for a total of 214 days and recorded evidence on 640 separate occasions from 457 witnesses. In addition, the Attorney General's Department submitted 2230 documents as evidence to assist the Presidential Commission of Inquiry. The 06 volume report handed over to the President comprises of 472 pages and 125 annexures.