Easter Sunday carnage probe:

… gems worth Rs 14 mn among cash, jewellery, etc., worth 340 mn recovered

By Shamindra Ferdinando  

The Police Headquarters says Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam, PC, will soon move High Court in respect of eight incidents related to the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide attacks.  

Officers of the AG’s Department along with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) were preparing in that regard, Senior DIG Ajith Rohana said.  

According to SDIG, in charge of the police Legal Division, altogether, the CID and the TID had investigated 17 incidents and the previous AG Dappula de Livera, PC, filed cases in the High Courts of Kegalle, Kandy, Kurunegala, Puttalam and Colombo in respect of nine investigations. Rajaratnam succeeded de Livera on May 26. SDIG Rohana said that the CID and the TID would conduct further investigations into fresh findings made because of ongoing discussions among the AG’s officers and representatives of the CID and the TID. A series of suicide attacks in Colombo, Batticaloa and Negombo on April 21, 2019 claimed the lives of 270, including 45 foreigners. The police blamed now proscribed National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) for the attacks. Police headquarters announced the move to file the remaining eight cases in the wake of the Catholic Church stepping up pressure over what Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith called unsatisfactory status of the investigations 

SDIG Rohana said that during the investigations the CID and the TID took 724 persons into custody. Out of whom, 227 persons had been remanded pending further investigations whereas 83 were held in terms of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The rest had been granted bail.

Among those detained are All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader and Vanni

District Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Rishad Bathiudeen and his brother, Riyaj as well as JVP National List nominee Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim, father of two suicide bombers, who perished in the wave of attacks on Easter Sunday 2019. Investigators have recovered Rs 28.5 mn in cash, USD 695,830, three blue gems estimated to be worth Rs 14 mn and jewellery to the tune of Rs 24 mn from some of the suspects.  

 SDIG Rohana said altogether they had recovered Sri Lankan rupees, USD, gems, and jewellery worth Rs 205 mn. The government, in terms of the PTA has also taken over several properties owned by Easter Sunday carnage suspects, he said.  

Among the properties are 18-acre Lactowatta in Karadipuwal, Wanathavilluwa, 25-acre land at Aselapura in Welikanda, another 25-acre land at Ollipuram in Kattankudy and luxury house situated on 8.5 perch land at Dematagoda, where wife of one of the suicide bombers triggered a blast when the police surrounded the house. The police arrested her father-in-law spice merchant Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim whose two sons — identified as Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim and Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim — detonated their explosives at the Shangri-La and the Cinnamon Grand hotels, respectively. The police have also taken into custody seven vans, one Bolero jeep, seven motorcycles and one three-wheeler used by those involved in the conspiracy. SDIG Rohana said that the police investigating Easter Sunday attacks recorded staggering 9,800 statements and analyzed 21,000 telephone numbers, in addition to the recovery of Rs 134 mn from 100 bank accounts. Responding to another question, the top police officer said that the police also inquired into NTJ activities in the run-up to the Easter Sunday attacks. There had been organized attempts to entice those who sat the GCE Ordinary Level and Advanced Level into the NTJ’s ranks, SDIG Rohana said.  

Meanwhile, top Church spokesperson Rev Father Cyril Gamini Fernando asked whether the AG Department and the police would consider the recommendations made by the Presidential Commission. Rev. Fernando said that the Church expected the government to punish those who had planned the heinous attacks. Dealing with those who had neglected their responsibilities despite being constitutionally responsible for safety and security of the people was as important as exposing the masterminds, Rev Fernando said.  

Responding to another query, Rev. Fernando recalled what former AG de Livera, PC said days before he retired. President’s Counsel de Livera declared that the Easter Sunday massacre was a high-profile conspiracy, Rev Fernando recalled. Now that he was no longer at the helm of the AG’s Department, his successor Rajaratnam should bring the investigations to a successful conclusion, the priest said.