Cyril Herath

He was educated at St. John's College, Nugegoda[1] and at the Royal College, Colombo and graduated from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya with a BA in Economics, History and Philosophy, where he gained university colours in Athletics.

Thereafter he joined the Ceylon Police Force as a probationary Assistant Superintendent of Police in 1957 and was promoted to Superintendent of Police (SP) in 1969. Herath was serving as SP Anuradhapura, when he was appointed Director of the Intelligence Services Division (ISD). The Police ISD was tasked with revamping intelligence gathering and internal security work following the 1971 JVP Insurrection. He established ISD headquarters at No.10 Cambridge Place and developed an effective staff and intelligence network. He was promoted to Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in 1975. He served as the Inspector-General of Police from December 1985 to August 1988.[2]

Following his retirement from the police, he served as Chairman of the National Savings Bank from September 1994 to March 2002[3] before taking up appointment as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence from 2003 to 2004. In 2005, he was awarded the title Deshamanya by the President of Sri Lanka.[4]

His son Arjuna is a partner of Ernst & Young (Sri Lanka).

• List of Sri Lankan non-career Permanent Secretaries