Colombo: The Sri Lankan police is working around the clock to bring to justice all those behind the devastating terror attack on Easter Day which killed close to 300 people. The latest move by the police was to bring five suspects from the Middle Eastern kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
However, the authorities haven’t revealed much about the those who were brought back to the country. The five were picked up in Jeddah and sent back in the custody of Sri Lankan police.
Sri Lankan police spokesperson said, “These are the five remaining leaders of the April 21 terrorist group.”
Police did not give any information about the roles these five accused had in the bombings. However one of the accused was identified as Mohammad Milhan who was a senior member of the National Thawheedh Jamaath (NTJ), which carried out the bombings together with Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim.
The accused could have been the next leader of the NTJ after the outfit’s leader also blew himself up in the bombings.
After the terrorist attack, the security agencies in Sri Lankan had arrested 2000 people. Though most of them are on bail now, 634 still remain behind bars. Security agencies are credited for their quick response in containing the threat of more attacks and also for destroying the network related to the attack.
The Easter bombings in Sri Lanka in three churches and high-end hotels destroyed the peace that the island nation was enjoying after a bloody civil war that had lasted for decades.
What worries the security agencies of Sri Lanka and also India is the fact that the Islamic State took responsibility of the bombings. It seems that the ISIS is looking for fertile grounds to propagate their sick brand of Islam after the terror outfit was ousted from Iraq and Syria by allied forces.
Though, Sri Lankan authorities failed to act upon India’s intelligence about the terror attack, they have since been pro active and most of those behind the planning of the attack have been eliminated or behind bars now.