{"id":69290,"date":"2020-06-20T18:18:19","date_gmt":"2020-06-20T23:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=69290"},"modified":"2020-06-20T18:30:39","modified_gmt":"2020-06-20T23:30:39","slug":"april-2019-easter-bombings-investigation-now-focusing-on-financial-networks-connected-to-suicide-bombers-with-role-of-foreign-groups-being-suspected-200-suspects-so-far-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=69290","title":{"rendered":"April 2019 Easter Bombings Investigation now focusing on financial networks connected to suicide bombers with role of foreign groups being Suspected; 200 suspects so far arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s probe into the April 2019 Easter terror bombings is in its \u201cfinal stages\u201d, authorities have said, while raising suspicion that the suicide bombers were funded by \u201ctwo foreign outfits\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Colombo Crime Division, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID), who are investigating the attacks of last summer, have arrested over 200 suspects since.<\/p>\n

The coordinated bomb blasts at three luxury hotels in Colombo and three churches in Colombo, nearby Negombo, and the eastern city of Batticaloa, were the deadliest attacks in Sri Lanka\u2019s post-war decade, claiming 279 lives.<\/p>\n

On what remains to be found out in the ongoing probe, police spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jaliya Senaratne said investigators are focusing on the financial networks connecting the suicide bombers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to trace the flow of finances. We have nearly established the network within Sri Lanka. Once that is completed, we may seek INTERPOL\u2019s support to look into the two foreign organisations that we suspect funded the suicide bombers,\u201d he said, speaking to The Hindu at the police headquarters.<\/p>\n

So far, police have seized millions \u2014 in Sri Lankan rupees and U.S. dollars \u2014 in cash, some 130 acres of land and eight vehicles.<\/p>\n

Bank accounts with funds over LKR 134 million have been frozen. \u201cWe hope to complete the basic investigation within the next month,\u201d Mr. Senaratne said.<\/p>\n

The current investigating team took charge after the November 2019 presidential elections that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fought on the plank of national security and won decisively, with 52.25 % of the vote. His campaign squarely blamed the predecessor President Maithripala Sirisena-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe government for the failure to act on the prior intelligence tip off, including from India, on a likely terror attack.<\/p>\n

Proceeding with the investigations, Mr. Rajapaksa\u2019s newly formed government recast the CID. Soon, more arrests began making news.<\/p>\n

Taking forward<\/strong><\/p>\n

The outgoing CID team had arrested some 100 suspects already. With support from the Australian Federal Police and the FBI, its officers had also recovered and analysed data from all the phones and gadgets seized from the suicide bombers\u2019 network, according to a former official. It helped the CID map out the command structure, he told The Hindu, asking not to be named, given the sensitivity of the probe.<\/p>\n

A \u2018supreme council\u2019 led by radical preacher Zahran Hashim \u2014 the mastermind of the IS-inspired Easter attacks \u2014 had a second rung of \u201cmilitary leaders\u201d in Sri Lanka\u2019s nine provinces. In addition to coordinating the April bombings, they had identified a few more targets, the CID had then deduced, corroborating evidence from the huge cache of explosives they unearthed in Wanathawilluwa town, near Wilpattu national park, in January 2019.<\/p>\n

Once \u201call key suspects\u201d were nabbed, the CID \u201cwas reasonably certain\u201d that a second attack by Zahran\u2019s group was unlikely, though they were watching other \u201cpotential radical networks\u201d, a top source familiar with the probe told The Hindu.<\/p>\n

The then CID made submissions on the eight key suspects to the magistrate court. Three files were submitted to the Attorney-General\u2019s Department on what in retrospect are seen as preludes to the deadly bombings \u2014 the killing of two police constables in Vavunathivu, Batticaloa in late November 2018; the vandalising of Buddha statues in the central Mawanella town in December 2018 and the shooting of Mohammad Razak Taslim, in Mawanella in March 2019, after he helped investigators probe the statue incident.<\/p>\n

Despite multiple attempts, The Hindu was unable to obtain a comment from the AG\u2019s Department on the status of the files.<\/p>\n

‘There is continuity’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the new CID team with all its senior officers replaced, has said Zahran\u2019s radical Islamist outfit had \u201cplanned a second attack\u201d. The bombers had attempted to mislead intelligence agencies by staging split in group, police spokesman Mr. Senaratne told media in April this year.<\/p>\n

All the same, the current investigators were drawing upon the findings of the outgoing CID team, Mr. Senaratne told The Hindu, adding: \u201cso there is continuity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unanswered questions<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, a few crucial questions remain. One, how and where exactly did the lapse occur, leading to the failure of the former government acting on prior intelligence? Two, what were Zahran Hashim\u2019s specific motivations to carry out the attack? While the network reporting to Zahran Hashim has been established, was there a structure above him?<\/p>\n

On the first question, a Presidential Commission appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena continues to investigate the attacks. Its members \u2014 mostly senior and retired judges \u2014 have submitted at least two reports to President Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n

Further, a parliamentary panel set up last year released a report on the Easter attacks in October 2019, based on testimonies from 55 persons, including President Sirisena and former PM Wickremesinghe, collected over 24 sittings.<\/p>\n

It accused President Sirisena of \u201cactively undermining\u201d government and security systems, leading to serious lapses ahead of the Easter attacks. But Mr. Sirisena has refused to take any blame. \u201cWhy should I take responsibility? Those who are responsible should take responsibility,\u201d he told BBC Sinhala in a recent interview.<\/p>\n

A year after the Easter bombings, for which his government was blamed, Mr. Sirisena has realigned with his former rivals, the Rajapaksas, and is widely expected to contest from their coalition in the parliamentary elections scheduled in August.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka\u2019s probe into the April 2019 Easter terror bombings is in its \u201cfinal stages\u201d, authorities have said, while raising suspicion that the suicide bombers were funded by \u201ctwo foreign outfits\u201d. The Colombo Crime Division, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID), who are investigating the attacks of last …<\/p>\n

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