The Inspector General of Police (IGP) is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Police. They are the most senior police officer in Sri Lanka and oversees all police personnel throughout the country. The IGP reports to the Minister of Law and Order, when the Police Service is under the Ministry of Law and Order as it is currently.
Sri Lanka Police is the civilian national police force of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The police force is responsible for enforcing criminal and traffic law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout Sri Lanka. The police force consists of 43 Territorial Divisions, 67 Functional Divisions, 432 Police Stations with more than 84,000 people. The professional head of the police is the Inspector General of Police who reports to the Minister of Law and Order as well as the National Police Commission. The last Inspector General of Police was Deshabandu Tennakoon. The Acing Inspector General of the Police is currently Senior DIG Priyantha Weerasooriya, who was appointed on September 27, 2024
On 6 April 2008, 15 people were killed by an alleged suicide bomber, who exploded himself at the start of a marathon race which was part of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebration in Weliweriya town, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's national athletics coach Lakshman de Alwis, politician Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, former Olympics runner K.A. Karunaratne and army officer Lt Colonel Udayadeera were killed in the bombing which wounded 90 others. The Sri Lankan Government has blamed the Tamil Tigers for this attack because Minister Fernandopulle was a vocal critic of the Tamil Tigers.
A Deputy Inspector General of Police is a high-ranking official position in Police in India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.
Cyril Cyrus "Jungle" Dissanayake, MVO was a Sri Lankan senior police officer. He was serving as Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Range I, when he was implicated as one of the leaders of the attempted military coup of 1962.
Ganegoda Appuhamelage Don Edmund Ananda Seneviratne was a Sri Lankan police officer. He was the former Inspector-General of Police, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Malaysia, former adviser to Cabinet Minister of National Security and ex member Public Service Commission of Sri Lanka.
Deshamanya L. D. Cyril Herath was a Sri Lankan Inspector-General of Police and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence.
The Criminal Investigation Department of the Sri Lanka Police Service is responsible for carrying out investigations throughout the island into serious crimes, including murders, rape and organized crime cases of a very serious nature that require special skills and complex detection. At times, the CID carries out investigations pertaining to national security.
General Shantha H.S. Kottegoda, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a retired senior Sri Lanka Army officer. He was the seventeenth commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1 July 2004 – 5 December 2005. He had served as the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Brazil and Thailand. In April 2019, following the Easter Sunday bombings he was appointed as the permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence.
Major General Jeewaka Ruwan Kulatunga, RSP, ndc, psc, is a retired Sri Lankan general. He served as the Chief of National Intelligence having served as the Commandant of the Defence Services Command and Staff College and the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.
Pujith Senadhi Bandara Jayasundara also simply known as Pujith Jayasundara is a former Sri Lankan police officer. He was the 34th Inspector-General of Police (IGP) from 2016 to 2020. He was sent on compulsory leave from April 2019 following the Easter bombings and retired in March 2020.
Nilantha Jayawardena is a Senior Deputy Inspector-General of Police in Sri Lanka and Chief of State Intelligence Service.
Ernest Edward Boniface Perera was the 23rd Inspector General of the Sri Lanka Police, serving between 1988 and 1993.
On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital, Colombo, were targeted in a series of coordinated ISIS-related terrorist suicide bombings. Later that day, two smaller explosions occurred at a housing complex in Dematagoda and a guest house in Dehiwala. A total of 269 people were killed, including at least 45 foreign nationals, three police officers, and eight suicide bombers. An additional 500 were injured. The church bombings were carried out during Easter services in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo; the hotels bombed included the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury and Tropical Inn. According to the State Intelligence Service, a second wave of attacks was planned, but was prevented due to government raids.
Chandana Deepal Wickramaratne is a retired Sri Lankan police officer. He is a former Inspector General of Sri Lankan Police.
The Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) is the Sri Lankan government official in-charge of directing and overseeing the intelligence agencies in Sri Lanka. Created in 2006, reporting to the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, CNI is a member of the National Security Council of Sri Lanka, coordinating the work of intelligence agencies in the country.
The Government of Sri Lanka maintains intelligence agencies that conduct intelligence activities to support the national security of Sri Lanka. Their intelligence assessments contribute to the conduct of national security, military planning and law enforcement. The main organisations are the State Intelligence Service and the Directorate of Military Intelligence. These intelligence agencies are coordinated by the Chief of National Intelligence (CNI), who reports to the Secretary of Defense.
Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Bakri bin Mohd Zinin is a former Malaysian police officer who served as Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), from May 2013 to his retirement in September 2014. He was the first Sabahan to become DIG.
Tennakoon Mudiyanselage Wanshalankara Deshabandu Tennakoon, known as Deshabandu Tennakoon, is a controversial Sri Lankan police officer. He was the first de facto Inspector General of the Sri Lankan Police. The Supreme Court suspended him on 24 July 2024.
