Chief Priest rejects Committee Findings

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Mahanayake Thera (Chief Priest) of the Malwatte Chapter of the Siam Nikaya rejected the findings of the official three member committee headed by Chandrananda De Silva, Secretary, Ministry of Defence, appointed to probe the Maligawa bomb blast, said the Sunday Times today.

"From the beginning we were maintaining that we could not accept the composition of the committee. How can we therefore accept the findings?" the Ven. Rambukwelle Sri Vapissi Thera was quoted by the Sunday Times as asking.

Though the report is yet to be made public, the Sunday Times quoted a communique issued by the Department of Information which said the Committee's report pointed to neglect by the Kandy police on the Maligawa security to be a cause of the blast.

The communique stated: "A cause of neglect in the planning of security for the event (independence day celebrations) on the part of the Kandy police has been the firm conclusion of the Committee."

The communique further said, "Fabrication of evidence, falsification of documents and conspiracy of collusion by other officers of the Kandy police to cover up and divert the blame for their negligence were apparent in the conduct of the Kandy police after the blast."

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is widely suspected to have carried out the Maligawa blast.