Sri Lanka's police chief and a top defence official have been arrested over their alleged failures to prevent the Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 250 people, a police spokesperson said

 The bombings on April 21, claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), took place despite repeated warnings from Indian intelligence that an attack was imminent.

Inspector General Pujith Jayasundara and former defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando were arrested on Tuesday, a day after Attorney General Dappula de Livera said they should be arrested and chargedwith "grave crimes against humanity" for failing to prevent the attacks on churches and luxury hotels.

Both men were at different hospitals undergoing treatment when detectives arrested them, spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekera said, adding the move followed instructions from de Livera who said they could press murder charges.