All suspects in blasts killed or arrested

  Tuesday, 07 May 2019

source: abna

Sri Lanka's security authorities have either killed or arrested all those responsible for the Easter suicide bombings that left 257 people dead, according to the police chief.
AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Sri Lanka's security authorities have either killed or arrested all those responsible for the Easter suicide bombings that left 257 people dead, according to the police chief.
Chandana Wickramaratne said in an audio statement on Tuesday that police had accounted for every individual involved in the April 21 attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels.
"All those who organised and carried out the suicide bomb attack have died or [are] in our custody," he said.
"The two bomb experts of the group have been killed. We have seized the explosives they had stored for future attacks."
Wickramaratne, who was named acting police chief last week after President Maithripala Sirisena suspended his predecessor over his failure to act on warnings about the attacks, said public life was slowly returning to normal with the lifting of curfews imposed after the bombings.
The government reopened public schools on Monday, but attendance dropped to below 10 percent in many places with parents still fearing attacks.
"We have strengthened security for all schools," the police chief said. "We are also conducting a programme to create awareness about safety and security in all schools."
Wickramaratne did not say how many people were in custody over the bombings, but police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said on Monday that 73 people, including nine women, were being held.