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Police rejects Cardinal’s ‘Easter attacks for votes’ claim

12 Jan 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Police have rejected a recent statement allegedly made by Colombo Archbishop His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith to the effect that the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019, were a conspiracy by the current Government and that it had been allowed to take place despite prior warning, in order to gain the votes of the people. During a conference organised by the “Global Justice Forum for Victims of the Easter Sunday Terror Attacks” via Zoom on 8 January, the Cardinal had claimed that the said terror attacks were a conspiracy by the current Government. The Police also stated that Cardinal Ranjith had claimed that the authorities were aware of the terror attacks and had allowed it to take place in order to get the people’s votes. In addition, the Archbishop had claimed during the said conference that the investigators are reluctant to divulge information about the attacks and that former Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) Director Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Nalaka de Silva was arrested while he had obtained a warrant to arrest National Thowheeth Jama’ath Leader Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran alias Zahran Hashim. The Cardinal had also alleged that the matters recommended by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which investigated the Easter Sunday terror attacks are also not being investigated. He had also claimed that politicians were exerting various pressures on the Police and that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D. Wickramaratne had made certain statements like a politician. However, in a media statement dated 10 January, the Police stated that they deny the allegations made by the Archbishop. Pointing out that they are acting in accordance with the legal provisions of the Evidence Ordinance when making a criminal charge against a person, the Police stated that they would never make a criminal accusation merely based on statements that are not of substantiated value. The media release further read that since lawsuits have been filed in the High Court as a result of investigations into whether the said terror attacks were deliberately allowed to take place by ignoring the intelligence information provided by the intelligence agencies, it is not ethical to make statements on the matter as it is a judicial matter. The Police further noted that de Silva was arrested in connection with a plot to assassinate former President and incumbent Parliamentarian Maithripala Sirisena, incumbent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the Eastern Province, and to assassinate an Assistant Superintendent of Police in Colombo. In addition, the statement issued by the Police claimed that de Silva had also conspired to harm the positions of several other senior police officials and an official of the National Police Commission. “Following the issuance of warrants for Zahran’s arrest, de Silva had been overseeing the TID for more than three months until de Silva’s arrest, but the warrant had not been executed. It is also a futile argument to say that his arrest in connection with an alleged criminal conspiracy was the result of a conspiracy to prevent the said warrant from being executed,” the Police added. It further stated that although the TID had obtained a warrant for Zahran’s arrest on 9 July 2018, no officer had been deployed to execute the warrant until de Silva was arrested on 25 October 2018. The Police further stated that the Directors of the TID have directed the officers to arrest Zahran on several occasions after de Silva’s arrest. “The Special Investigation Unit is already conducting a number of investigations into some of de Silva’s misconduct. In particular, the investigating authority in any investigation is the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the relevant police station or the investigation unit. The current legal situation in the country is such that the OIC is responsible for all investigations, including the arrests of those against whom the warrants have been issued. In such a context, it is baseless to say that the powers of an OIC can be undermined by the arrest and detention of a supervising officer.” Further claiming that the Archbishop had described former Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Director Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shani Abeysekera and former CID Chief Senior DIG Ravi Seneviratne as two officials who have carried out their duties in a correct and impartial manner, the Police stated that de Silva was however arrested by the CID during the tenures of Abeysekera and Seneviratne. Therefore, a problem arises regarding the officials who have been described by the Cardinal as partial and conspiring officials, the Police claimed. “In this backdrop, the Police deny the allegations made by Cardinal Ranjith. The Attorney General has already filed 12 cases in High Courts on the basis of accurate and conclusive information revealed by the Police regarding the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Indictments have been filed against 42 suspects,” concluded the Police. The Catholic church recently questioned President Rajapaksa and the Government as to why they were not investigating the alleged plot to assassinate former President Sirisena and current President Rajapaksa, which led to the arrest of de Silva, who is said to have been working to arrest Zahran. Addressing a media briefing last month, the National Catholic Social Communication Centre Director, Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando claimed that when Zahran was about to be arrested, de Silva was arrested and detained based on a statement made by one Namal Kumara that there was a conspiracy to assassinate Sirisena and Rajapaksa. “De Silva was arrested following a statement made by Kumara about an alleged conspiracy. He came and said that there was a conspiracy to assassinate Sirisena and Rajapaksa, the latter who was not even a Presidential candidate at the time. After the arrest of de Silva, all attempts to arrest Zahran were halted and then no one came forward to arrest Zahran,” he said. However, Rev. Fernando said that although Kumara had spoken publicly about such an assassination plot with evidence, it was not and is not being investigated. He claimed that there was no and is no investigation into matters such as who was to be assassinated in the conspiracy in question and who was involved in it. “Now the question we are asking is, where are the investigations into this conspiracy? If there was a conspiracy to assassinate him, didn’t Sirisena have a duty to expose to the country as to who sought to carry it out or to investigate it?” he questioned. Rev. Fernando further claimed that Rajapaksa is also not investigating the matter even after assuming the Presidency. He said: “Rajapaksa is also not looking for who conspired to assassinate him. Either this is a suppression of the truth, or this conspiracy was a complete drama. If it is a drama, then there is nothing to be investigated. Why was such a drama staged when there were preparations to arrest Zahran? Was it to prevent Zahran from being arrested? Shouldn’t these things be properly investigated and told to the country? Why hide these matters? To protect whom?” On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches (St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, and Zion Church in Batticaloa) and three luxury hotels in Colombo (Cinnamon Grand, The Kingsbury, and Shangri-La) were targeted in a series of co-ordinated suicide bombings. Later that day, another two bomb explosions took place at a house in Dematagoda and the Tropical Inn Lodge in Dehiwala. A total of 269 people excluding the bombers were killed in the bombings, including about 45 foreign nationals, while at least 500 were injured.


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