Army Commander calls for modern technology to boost security

Thursday, 1 August 2019 05:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Says threat of another attack cannot be ruled out
Questions why TID does not cooperate with military
Says people recognition systems need upgrading at BIA, other crucial locations

By Ashwin Hemmathagama

Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, testifying before the Parliamentary Select Committee investigating the Easter Sunday Attacks yesterday, said the danger of extremist organisations could not be ruled out, and called for modern technology to be used to boost national security.

“There are confirmed reports that these extremists are still operating secretly. Some of them have escaped from being arrested. So we cannot say that the threat from the Islamist terrorism issue is completely over,” he said.

Stressing the importance of increasing security at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Army Commander held using modern technology is a must in order to protect the borders, as well as to keep a close tab on certain matters within the country.

“Still we use files when checking persons who enter and exit the country. That is outdated. Instead of that, there should be an upgraded security system at the BIA to detect and easily locate the people who enter the country,” he said, proposing a biometrics-enabled system.

Responding to questions raised by the Committee, he held that he has brought Islamist terrorist activities to the notice of higher authorities since 2017. “I have shared the information at the National Security Council meeting. But I’m unable to say as to what they did with the information we provided, or how they processed that information. They did not arrest the persons we recommended to arrest. I don’t know why it happened. We did not receive any follow-ups from them,” he said.

He also said that there was mistrust between the Sri Lanka Army and the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) on sharing intelligence information, and acting on shared information.

“The TID did not cooperate well with us. The Army carried out many operations to recover explosives and to arrest certain people after the war. Even then, the TID did not cooperate with us well.

The State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director Senior Deputy Inspector of Police (SDIG) Nilantha Jayawardena was in constant touch, but the Army was not informed about a possible terror attack on 21 April. If we were told of those intelligence reports, we could have done something. I’m really sad about it. I don’t know why they did not share that information with us,” he explained.

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