Connect with us

News

Did ‘Colossus’ factory owned by suicide bomber benefit?

Published

on

Direct link between Colossus and largest spice exporter Ishana

Rs 63,708 mn worth of copper imports during yahapalana govt.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

SLPP National List MP Mohammed Muzammil yesterday (27) asked whether Colossus Copper Factory, Wellampitiya, under investigation for alleged funding of 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, had benefited from substantial copper imports during the 2015-2019 period, amounting to Rs. 63,708 mn.

Colossus owner Imsath carried out suicide attack on the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo. Lawmaker Muzammil of the National Freedom Front, a constituent of the SLPP, told The Island that the factory had also profited from large consignments of copper, provided by the previous government at concessionary rates without following proper tender procedures.

Muzammil pointed out that former Police Headquarters spokesman SSP Jaliya Senaratne was on record having accused the Wellampitiya factory of having funded suicide bombers.

Responding to another query, MP Muzammil said that having examined available information he had sought an explanation as regards copper imports from Money, Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal. 

State Minister Cabraal, responding to an oral question in Parliament yesterday (27) said that during the 2015-2019 period Sri Lanka had imported copper to the tune of Rs 63,708 mn.

The MP asked for a thorough investigation into what he called a conspiracy.

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (P CoI) probing Easter Sunday attacks has been informed how Shantha Bandara, the then Public Relations Director of former President Maithripala Sirisena, instructed the Industrial Development Board (IDB) to provide 500 tonnes of copper to Colossus. Shantha Bandara now represents the SLPP parliamentary group. Devika Liyanage, a Senior Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, also directed the IDB to issue Colossus 1000 kilos of brass. IDB comes under the purview of the Trade and Commerce Ministry.

Muzamimil said that those who allowed the Colossus operation should be held accountable and made answerable to the public. He said that throughout the operation of Colossus since its inception in 2012, All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader and Vanni District lawmaker Rishad Bathiudeen had served and the Minister of Commerce.

Muzammil said that the IDB should be able to provide a list of requests made on behalf of Colossus which employed foreign workers at the time of the Easter Sunday carnage.

Mohammad Yusuf  Ibrahim, the proprietor of Ishana Exports Pvt Limited, the parent company of Colossus is currently held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The police arrested Ibrahim within hours after the blasts for aiding and abetting his sons, Colossus owner Imsath and his brother Ilham, who carried out double suicide attacks on Shangri-La Hotel along with ring leader Zahran Hashim.

Ishana Exports, recognised as the largest spice exporter by the government, came into being in 1986.

Ibrahim was on the JVP National List at the 2015 general election.

Shangri-La bomber’s wife Fathima Jiffry triggered a blast to avoid being arrested after the police surrounded Ibrahim’s luxury residence at Dematagoda.

MP Muzammil said that even over one and half years after blasts killed 270 people, some of those who masterminded the project were still at large.

Responding to another query, Muzammil said that the primary focus of the ongoing investigation was the lapses on the part of the political and security apparatus.

Archbishop of Colombo Rt. Rev. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has said all those who planned the operation should be brought to justice.



Foreign News

One dead in US after being struck by taking off Frontier Airlines plane

Published

on

By

A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado [Aljazeera]

A person has died after jumping an airport perimeter fence in the US state of Colorado and being struck by a Frontier Airlines plane, according to authorities.

Denver International Airport said the unusual incident occurred late Friday, after the unidentified individual gained access to the tarmac.

It said the “pedestrian jumped the perimeter fence and was hit just two minutes later while crossing the runway”.

A brief engine fire followed the collision, which was put out by emergency responders, according to the airport.

It said that 12 of the 231 people on board suffered minor injuries, with five hospitalised.

The airport said investigators had examined the fence line where the individual entered and “found it to be intact”.

It added that the struck individual “is not believed to be an employee of the airport”.

“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the airport said.

Both local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were investigating the incident.

Airport safety in the US came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year amid a prolonged shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which temporarily left both Transportation Security Agents (TSA) and air traffic controllers working without pay.

While instances of people being killed on airport tarmacs are rare, Friday’s incident came a day after a Delta employee was killed after an airport vehicle struck an airbridge at Orlando International Airport.

In March, two pilots were  killed after an Air Canada Express plane crashed into a fire-rescue vehicle at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

About 225,000 people travel through Denver International Airport a day.

[Aljazeera]

Continue Reading

Latest News

Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the  Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

Published

on

By

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 10 MAY 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 10 May 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

The low-level atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka is likely to develop into a low-pressure area around 11th of May. Therefore, the prevailing showery conditions over the island are expected to continue during the next few days.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at most places over the island, and cloudy skies are expected over the island. Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the  Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

Continue Reading

News

Lanka Port City officials to meet investors in Dubai

Published

on

ECONOMYNEXT –Colombo Port City (CPC) officials will head to Dubai to meet with investors on June 11, as Sri Lanka’s most ambitious economic zone looks for further foreign investments.

“We are meeting people in Dubai and the Middle East in order to demonstrate that Colombo Port City can be a supplementary zone of investment,” Harsha Amarasekara, Chairman, Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC), told Economynext.

The meeting will be organised by CPCEC, China Harbour Engineering Company, Consulate General of Sri Lanka – Dubai, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka – Abu Dhabi.

Foreign investor meetings have been a consistent factor in marketing CPC, and identifying potential markets has been a priority for CHEC and CPCEC.

“We have shortlisted and identified primary markets and we have combed the globe in that to say have a rationale behind why you would want to do certain things, a road show in a particular country,” Thulci Aluwihare, Deputy Managing Director, CHEC Port City Colombo, told Echelon Media.

“Once we kind of shortlist on that, then we aggressively go and market Port City, first Sri Lanka I should say, then Port City.”

“Sri Lanka is known in the world as a tourist destination, not essentially for a doing business capital. That is the narrative that we are trying to change,” he added.

Continue Reading

Trending