Major Prabath Bulathwatte who is alleged to be the leader of the alleged death squad that assassinated Ekneligoda was investigating Jihadists networks in Sri Lanka at the time of his arrest and his removal from the post is believed to have allowed the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter Bombings to happen. Thus he was reinstated to his former position in May 2019 and given control of a special team directly under the Army Commander Mahesh Senanayake.