By Saman Indrajith

Minister of Public Security Rear Admiral (retd.) Dr. Sarath Weerasekera told Parliament yesterday that action would be taken to ban Madrasas and burqas as a measure to prevent the recurrence of Islamic extremist activities in the country.

 Making a ministerial statement on the Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Sunday attacks, the Minister said that all those directly or indirectly responsible for the terror attacks on April 21, 2019 would be arrested. 

 Minister Weerasekera said investigations had revealed that there had been eight opportunities that had been missed by the intelligence and security officials in the yahapalana regime to prevent the Easter Sunday attacks. On Feb 6, 2018 there was a bomb attack on a member of the National Front for Good Governance, Abdul Farwadan. Six days later there had been another bomb attack on the office of the National Front for Good Governance at Kattankudy. Six months later, the brother of Zahran Hashim, Rilvan was injured while experimenting with explosives at Palamunai in Batticaloa. Two weeks later two policemen were killed at Vavunathivu. One month later there was an incident of damaging Buddha statues in Mawanella. Three weeks after that a stock of explosives was found from Wanathawilluwa. Two months later on March 08, 2019 an informant of the Criminal Investigation Department Thaslim was shot and wounded. Five weeks later on April 16, 2019 the explosives had been tested on an experimental explosion using a motorbike at Thalankudah. The Easter Sunday attack took place five days later. A single group was involved in five incidents. If the intelligence and security officials had been directed to investigate the precursor incidents thoroughly, the Easter Sunday terror attacks could have been avoided. That did not take place owing to the lethargic attitude of the then Yahapalana government towards national security. Also lack of cooperation between the CID and Terrorist Investigation Division and the malfuctiong prevented investigations into aforementioned incidents.

The Minister said that 676 people had been arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday carnage and 200 of them while 66 others were detained for investigations.

He said that 408 people were currently out on bail as per the law of the country.

“After this government was elected, 99 people were arrested in Sri Lanka for their direct and indirect involvement in the attacks while another 35 Sri Lankans who were overseas were arrested,” he said. 

Intelligence in early 2020 for the first time revealed of a female wing trained by Zahran Hashim and 17 of them had taken an oath to carry out suicide attacks, the Minister said, adding that five of them were already dead, three had been charged and remanded while seven others were being detained for questioning.

The remaining two women would be arrested in the future, he said. 

The Terrorist Investigations Division and the Intelligence Services had managed to trace other extremist organisations operating in the country and make arrests, said the Minister of Public Security. 

Necessary measures had been taken for the implementation of the recommendations made by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry that probed the April 21, 2019 attacks, he said.