New allegations into 2019 Easter attacks to be investigated: Sri Lankan President
Sep 10, 2023
Colombo [Sri Lanka], September 10 : A committee chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge will investigate the allegations raised by a British documentary in connection with the 2019 Easter Attacks, Colombo Gazette reported on Sunday citing Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
A retired Supreme Court judge is to chair a committee to be appointed to investigate the allegations raised in the Channel 4 video on the Easter Sunday attacks, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.
Notably, the Sri Lankan Parliament also discussed the newly surfaced allegations, where the government said that it will back an investigation into the claims.
The President’s Media Division said that the President has decided to appoint the committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.
A Parliamentary Select Committee will also be appointed to investigate the allegations related to the Easter Sunday attacks.
The reports from the investigations will be presented to Parliament, the President’s Media Division said.
In a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, aired last week, on the British television station, Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) party spokesperson Azad Maulana alleged that a meeting took place between Easter Sunday bomber Zahran Hashim and head of the State Intelligence Service Suresh Sallay, Colombo Gazette reported.
Maulana alleged the meeting took place between Easter Sunday bomber Zahran Hashim and head of the State Intelligence Service Suresh Sallay.
The former TMVP spokesman, who has now sought asylum overseas, has shared the information with the UN and the EU as well as other diplomatic missions.
Maulana has further alleged that military intelligence allowed the attack to go ahead to pave the way for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to win the Presidential election later that year, Colombo Gazette reported.
Notably, nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three Catholic churches and as many luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, killing nearly 270 people, including 11 Indians, and injuring over 500, Colombo Gazette reported.
