COLOMBO (UCAN): Surviving victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings and the Church in Sri Lanka, have hailed the launch of a fresh probe into the deadliest-ever terror attack in the country which killed 279 people, including more than 40 foreigners, and injured over 500 people when three churches and three luxury hotels were targeted by nine Islamic State-inspired suicide bombers.
“I am hopeful that the new government will provide me with answers soon,” said Pradeepan Regan.
The 43-year-old a father of four, lost his four-and-a-half-year-old daughter when suicide bombers targeted St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade on the outskirts of the capital, Colombo, on April 21 five years ago. His mother and another son sustained serious injuries and are still recovering with assistance from Church volunteers.
“When I walk on the street and come across a girl of my daughter’s age, I think about her. I want to know who did this to my child and for what purpose?”
On October 1, the government of president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, announced the launch of a fresh probe into the terror attack.
“The Ministry of Public Security has already launched a preliminary probe into the Easter Sunday attacks,” said cabinet spokesperson and public security minister, Vijitha Herath.
The Church in Sri Lanka has repeatedly called for a fresh probe as panels appointed by the previous governments failed to achieve anything
Former deputy inspector-general, Ravi Seneviratne, has been appointed as secretary of the investigation team at the ministry.
The Church in Sri Lanka has repeatedly called for a fresh probe as panels appointed by the previous governments failed to achieve anything.
The perpetrators of the deadly simultaneous attacks, carried out by members of the National Thawheed Jamaat, are still at large and there is an allegation that senior government officials failed to prevent the bombings despite prior intelligence input.
Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Colombo, said that the Church was hopeful the new probe would look into the longstanding concerns and allegations.
Father Fernando recounted that when Dissanayake called on Malcom Cardinal Ranjith of Colombo, on September 23, “We stressed the urgent need to end further delays.”
He noted that the Church’s request for a fresh probe had been turned down by two former presidents: Ranil Wickremesinghe and Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
We urge the new government to look into the credible evidence presented by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry and the Parliament Oversight Committee which recommended further investigations
Father Cyril Gamini Fernando
“We urge the new government to look into the credible evidence presented by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry and the Parliament Oversight Committee which recommended further investigations,” Father Fernando added.
“There was political interference, too,” he said.
After assuming office in November 2019, Rajapaksa transferred Criminal Investigation Department teams that were probing the attacks under the leadership Seneviratne.
Father Rohan Silva, director of the Centre for Society and Religion, a Colombo-based organisation working with affected families, said they would have to wait to see how the probe proceeds.
The centre has prepared a letter to present to Dissnayake detailing the failures of previous investigation teams.
Civil society activist, Father Jeewantha Pieris, said a fresh probe would find the names of the real culprits and the masterminds behind the attack.
Many of the country’s 1.1 million Catholics reportedly voted for left-leaning Dissanayake during the September 21 polls.
“The Catholic community and others have given a mandate to the president to uncover the truth behind the attack,” Father Pieris observed.
