Pujith Senadhi Bandara Jayasundara ( si, පූජිත් සේනාධි බණ්ඩාර ජයසුන්දර) also simply known as Pujith Jayasundara ( si, පූජිත් ජයසුන්දර) (born 15 March 1960) is a former
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n police officer. He was the 34th
Inspector-General of Police
An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...
(IGP) from 2016 to 2020. He was sent on compulsory leave from April 2019 following the
Easter bombings and retired in March 2020.
Early life and education
Jayasundara was born 15 March 1960 in
Kurunegala
Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...
. He is the son of Ranbandara Jayasundara, who worked for an electronics and radio appliance manufacturing company in
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
. He received his primary education at Thaksala Maha Vidyalaya in Mahamukalanyaya in
Bogamuwa
Bogamuwa is a village in Sri Lanka. It is located within North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province.
See also
*List of towns in North Western Province, Sri Lanka
External links
*
North Western Province, Sri Lanka
{{SriLanka- ...
. At grade five, he was admitted to Ibbagamuwa Central School and then joined
Dharmaraja College
Dharmaraja College ( si, ධර්මරාජ විද්යාලය), founded in 1887, is a boys' school in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist school with around 300+ teaching staff and around 5000+ students. The school has many notable ...
in
Kandy
Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...
in 1969 soon after. He graduated from
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
''Vijja Uppattam Setta''
, mottoeng = Among all that arise, knowledge is the greatest
, established =
, undergrad = 14,750
, postgrad = 3560
, administrative_staff = 3950
, cit ...
with a Bachelor of Commerce with a class of second upper.
Police career
He joined the
Sri Lanka Police
(The one who lives by the Dhamma is protected by the Dhamma itself)
, mission =
, formedyear =
, preceding1 = Ceylon Police Force (1866–1972)
, dissolved =
, superseding =
, employees = ...
in 1985 as an
Probationary
Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration.
In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...
Assistant Superintendent of Police
Assistant superintendent, or assistant superintendent of police (ASP), is a rank that was used by police forces in the British Empire and is still used in many police forces in the Commonwealth. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held b ...
. He worked as a Senior Deputy Inspector General of Sri Lanka Police prior to his appointment as the IGP. He served as a police officer for 35 years until his retirement in 2020.
Jayasundara was appointed on 20 April 2016, recommended by the newly appointed
Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka. He was chosen from among three Senior Deputy Inspector Generals of Police. The Constitutional Council approved his appointment. He was expected to prosecute cases against former President of Sri Lanka,
Mahinda Rajapakse
Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...
and his allies.
Easter bombings
On the 26 April 2019
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Maithripala Sirisena
Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி ...
ordered Jayasundara to resign over failures that led to the
deadly Easter bomb attacks. Due to a lack of response from Jayasundara, he was put on compulsory leave with Senior DIG
C. D. Wickramaratne
Chandana D. Wickramaratne is a Sri Lankan police officer. He is the current Inspector General of Police (Sri Lanka), Inspector General of Police, he was confirmed on 25 November 2020 after having served as the ''Acting'' Inspector General of Poli ...
appointed as the acting Inspector General.
However in a 20-page complaint Jayasundara claimed that there were serious communication gaps between intelligence agencies and security arms of the government, all which fall under Sirisena. He also stated that the
State Intelligence Service (SIS) which reports directly to the president ordered him to stop ongoing police investigations into Islamic militants including the
National Thowheeth Jama'ath
, country = Sri Lanka
, leader = Moulvi Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran
, foundation =
, dates = –
, dissolved =
, merger =
, split =
, predecessor =
, merged ...
(NTJ).
Jayasundara who was arrested along with
Hemasiri Fernando, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence for failing prevent the Easter bombings. In February 2020, he was released on a
cash bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countrie ...
of Rs 250,000. In March 2020, he retired from the police service and was approved to obtain his pension and
retirement benefits
Notes
References
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayasundara, Pujith
1960 births
Living people
Alumni of Dharmaraja College
Alumni of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura
People from North Western Province, Sri Lanka
Sinhalese police officers
Sri Lankan Inspectors General of Police