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Easter attacks: State Minister alleges sinister attempt to discredit SL forces

Published

2 years ago

2023/09/23

Thilina Walpola

Pramitha Bandara

says FBI, Australian Federal Police have concluded their probes with no new findings

By Rathindra Kuruwita

State Minister of Defence Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon said in Parliament on Thursday (21) that ‘Sonic-Sonic’ was the code name given to a local intelligence official, who was entrusted with extracting information from the National Thawheed Jamma’ath (NTJ).

Abu Hind was an official attached to a foreign intelligence service.Sonic-Sonic and Abu Hind were individuals who had been in contact with NTJ and ISIS, according to previous investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks.

Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and the Catholic Church had been misled by certain groups about the Easter Sunday attacks, and there was a sustained effort to discredit the security forces, Tennakoon said.

The State Minister said that by 2018, there had been two arrest warrants against National Thawheed Jamma’ath (NTJ) leader Zahran Hashim, but police had not arrested him.

“Let’s talk about some other matters. In recent times, the name ‘Sonic’ has come up many times in Parliament. This is a code name. The intelligence services need to find out information about various groups that pose threats to Sri Lanka. Our intelligence services are on it 24/7. Sonic is an intelligence officer. There is nothing to hide. He entered the terrorist ring and extracted information. Sonic pretended to be a terrorist because that is the way one inserts oneself into terrorist groups,” he said.

Tennakoon said that an intelligence officer who is trying to win the trust of a terror group can’t reveal what his real purpose is.

“Intelligence agencies will do this again if there is a future threat. How can you ask an intelligence officer to undertake such an assignment again? This is a country that wants to slander and arrest such people.”

The State Minister said some MPs have asked how intelligence officials visited the house of Abdul Latheef Mohamed Jameel aka Abu Hamsa, who blew himself up at the Dehiwala Tropical Inn, prior to his suicide.

“Officials went to every place they have any inkling of. Jameel went to Turkey in 2014, planning to go to Syria. However, he couldn’t make it to Syria. He returns and makes contact with Australian ISIS members.”

There are many stories about Sara Jasmine, the wife of Hastun, too, he said. From 02 February 2019 to 19 April 2019, she was with Zahran’s group, and on 26 April she was at the NTJ safe house in Sainthamaruthu raided by the security forces, Zahran’s wife has told courts, the State Minister said.

“On three separate occasions, DNA tests were carried out to identify those who were killed at Sainthamaruthu. On 28 April 2019, samples were taken from 16 bodies for DNA testing. On 07 June 2019, the government analyst said that four samples had expired, and samples were taken again from these bodies. There were rumours that this was not Sara’s body and that she escaped the raid on the safe house.

Issues like the neglect of investigators, the fact that they had not taken samples from body parts strewn about, and the expiration of samples led to these rumours. There was an explosion, and there were body parts everywhere. We couldn’t initially find Sara’s body from the samples we had taken. But later, 83 samples were taken, and we found a match for Sara. We must admit that there has been professional negligence by investigators,” he said.

Tennakoon also spoke about Abu Hind, a person who played a similar role as Sonic-Sonic. A lot of terrorist organizations have now shifted their operations online, he said. Abu Hind is the code name given to an official of a foreign intelligence service who engaged NTJ through digital means, he said.

“We have also exposed foreign intelligence assets. We expect these agencies to help us in the future, too. Various parties are demanding foreign investigations. The FBI and Australian Federal Police (AFP), with the help of the Maldives, have carried out an investigation and handed over a report to the IGP. So, already, two international agencies have concluded their investigations here.

The FBI has identified Nawfer Moulavi as the mastermind of the attacks. They informed us in April 2022, that they had concluded the investigations. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) last year told IGP C.D Wickramaratne that they also do not have any pending reports or conclusions on the attacks. AFP said they have concluded the investigations,” he said.The State Minister said that his address was one of the last of the day, and only one Opposition MP and one government MP were present at the time he made the speech.

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Amendment to the regulations for registration of Subscriber SIM Cards (Subscriber Identity Modules- SIM) and reregistration of subscriber information related to the SIM cards obtained before 02-08-2019

Published

2 hours ago

2026/02/11

Priyan

As per the provisions of the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act No. 25 of 1991, the regulations for registration of subscriber SIM Cards (Subscriber Identity Modules- SIM) No. 01 of 2019 have
been declared on 02-08-2019 and the aforementioned regulations are only applicable for the SIM cards issued after that date.

Therefore, the information on certain subscribers who registered before 02-08-2019 is not available with the telephone operating companies, which has led to problematic situations in certain law investigation activities.

Further, it has been recognized the necessity of amending the regulations appropriate to the current requirements, including the new provisions relevant to the registration of subscribers between the ages of 16 and 17 and the issuance of SIM
cards for foreigners who come to Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution presented by the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Digital Economy, to introduce new regulations providing the provisions for reregistration of the information of the subscribers who have obtained the SIM cards before 02-08-2019 and amending the currently implemented regulations for registration of Subscriber SIM Cards (Subscriber Identity Modules- SIM) No. 01 of 2019.

News

Police open fire on speeding van in Jaffna: 17-year-old driver killed

Published

5 hours ago

2026/02/11

Sahan Weerasooriya

The van shot by the police

Police are investigating the circumstances under which its men, manning a checkpoint, opened fire on a vehicle, killing a 17-year-old boy in Jaffna, in the early hours of yesterday (10).

Police said that they opened fire at a van that ignored orders to stop at the checkpoint. The dead youth was identified as Albino Arul Bias, a resident of Vaddukoddai. Bias was identified as the driver of the vehicle.

Sources said that the incident happened at a checkpoint at the Alaipiddy junction, along the Jaffna–Urkavalthurai road.

After the vehicle was brought to a stop, the teenage boy, who had been inside, was found to have sustained critical gunshot injuries. He was subsequently transported to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital for emergency treatment. Despite medical intervention, he later succumbed to his injuries.

Two other individuals, who were inside the vehicle, have been taken into custody by police. Authorities have stated that one of those arrested is from the Vaddukoddai area, while the other is from Nallur.

Assistant Superintendent of Police, Attorney-at-Law, F. U. Wootler said that the men had no option but to open fire as they were suspicious of the vehicle. “The incident happened around 1 am in the morning and their failure to heed the police order couldn’t be justified under any circumstances,” the spokesman said (SF)

News

HRCSL employee protests demanding justice, takes swipe at Presidential Secretariat

Published

5 hours ago

2026/02/11

Sahan Weerasooriya

Ayanthini Shiromini protests opposite HRCSL main office at R.A. de Mel Mawatha yesterday (10) pic by Nishan S. Priyantha

‘There is no basis for her accusations’- HRCSL

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Permanent employee of Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Ayanthini Shiromini yesterday (10) protested outside its main office at No 14, R.A. de Mel Mawatha, formerly Duplication road, in a bid to draw the attention of the Presidential Secretariat to her plight.

At the protest site, Shiromini told The Island that she had been relentlessly targeted since 2018 and the situation took a turn for worse in 2023 over her protest against the appointment of a particular member to an internal interview board and an incident pertaining to a complaint lodged against the then IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon.

Responding to a query regarding the 2018 developments, Shiromini said that she met with a near fatal accident in 2014 while engaged in official duty and depended on crutches for eight years and was recommended by a medical board to grant the opportunity for suitable work. Mother of two and post graduate social science in Kelaniya University and human rights at the Colombo University alleged that the HRCSL changed her status regardless of the recommendation made by the medical board.

Having failed to convince the top HRCSL administration to treat her fairly, Shiromi said that she sought the intervention of the Presidential Secretariat in late July 2025 to rectify the problems experienced by her.

She alleged that the Presidential Secretariat sided with the HRCSL and did absolutely nothing. “Instead of taking remedial measures, the Presidential Secretariat sent the file submitted by me against the HRCSL top management back to them. They shouldn’t have done that,” Shiromini said.

Shiromini staged a protest opposite HRCSL main office on the world human rights day on Dec 10, last year to highlight what she called injustice done to her by the HRCSL and the Presidential Secretariat. Shiromi said that she called off the protest after receiving an assurance from the Presidential Secretariat that two committees would be appointed to inquire into issues raised by her. “I had no option but to protest again as the Presidential Secretariat did nothing to address her grievances.”

A top spokesperson for HRCSL said that her allegations didn’t hold legal weight. The Parliamentary Ombudsman inquired into her accusations and the HRCSL fully explained the developments since the 2014 accident that took place in the Balangoda area.

The official said that after the accident she was granted the opportunity to work from home and other relief. “But we couldn’t have continued with the same indefinitely and she reacted angrily after a decision was made to treat her like a normal employee after the recovery,” the official said.

Shiromini has served the HRCSL since 2005. The official strongly denied allegations that Shiromini had been mistreated and harassed by a section of the HRCSL staff. “Of course, there had been a series of clashes with other employees and incidents provoked by the disgruntled worker but the HRCSL tried to address the issues in a systematic way,” the official said.

The official alleged that Shiromini exploited the post-Aragalaya situation for her advantage.

Shiromini said that she intended to continue the protest until the Presidential Secretariat ordered an investigation into the conduct of HRCSL top management. In a lengthy letter addressed to members of parliament, Shiromini named the Presidential Secretariat personnel who mishandled her case.

The HRCSL official said that in spite of her being a long-standing employee of the institution she seemed to be unaware that the President couldn’t appoint a committee to inquire into the HRCSL. “We do not have anything to hide,” the official said, calling the lone protester a quarrelsome employee.