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SJB condemns release of Easter bomber’s father

08 Aug 2021

By Buddhika Samaraweera The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has condemned the recent release of Ahmed Alawdeen, the father of Alawdeen Ahmed Muaath, who carried out the suicide bombing at St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade on 21 April 2019. Colombo Chief Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala on 6 August released Alawdeen from all charges. By the time of his release, Alawdeen had been in remand for over two years, and the Court had decided to release the suspect based on submissions received from the Attorney General (AG), who had informed Court that he did not wish to continue the trial against the suspect owing to insufficient evidence to implicate him in the crime. However, speaking to The Morning, Gampaha District SJB MP Dr. Kavinda Heshan Jayawardhana charged that the suspects either directly involved in, or connected to, the Easter Sunday terror attacks have been gradually granted release ever since the present Government came into power. “All employees of the Wellampitiya copper factory belonging to Mohamed Ibrahim Inshaf Ahmed, the bomber who carried out the suicide bombing at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo on 21 April 2019, were released on a previous occasion,” he noted, stressing that any suspect related to the terror attacks should only be released following a thorough investigation.  Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya, on the instructions of the then-AG, on 19 January 2021 ordered the release of 10 suspects who worked in the Wellampitiya copper factory owned by millionaire businessman Inshaf Ahmed, who was one of the suicide bombers who perpetrated the Easter Sunday terror attacks. The suspects were released by the Magistrate’s Court, following a request made by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) for their release, in accordance with the AG’s instructions that no further legal action be taken against them. Accordingly, at the request of the complainant, the court released the 10 suspects and ordered the termination of proceedings. Accordingly, Sheidu Ali Mohamed Afil, a resident of Puttalam; Mahawansa Mudiyanselage Samantha, a resident of Dayagama; Mohammad Wangir Mohamed Wangir, a resident of Badalkumbura; Mohamed Salihu Mohamed Aroos, a resident of Velamboda; Mohamed Aswan Mohamed Askam, a resident of Badalkumbura; Saleem Sanhin, a resident of Periyamadu; Mohamed Hidar Mohamed Sumair, a resident of Velamboda; Renshun Govinda Sally, a resident of Haputale; Hanifa Abdul Muthalif, a resident of Muruthalagahamulla; and Karupaiya Rajendran a.k.a. “Abdullah” were thus released. Dr. Jayawardhana also claimed that by releasing the suspects connected to the bombing in this manner, the present Government continues to neglect its responsibility to bring justice to the victims of the Easter Sunday terror attack. He also claimed that the present Government is endangering the lives of the people by releasing suspects who had close links with the bombers. “They may soon return and be motivated to commit a crime similar to the Easter Sunday terror attack. There is a risk of them motivating others to do so too,” he alleged. Also charging that the investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks have not been completed or carried out in a proper manner, he said that the release of close relatives of the bombers in this manner against such a backdrop creates a very dangerous situation. 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, Kingsbury, and Shangri-La) were targeted in a series of co-ordinated Islamist terrorist 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 267 persons were killed in the bombings, including at least 45 foreign nationals, while at least 500 persons were injured. All eight of the suicide bombers in the attacks were Sri Lankan citizens associated with National Thowheed Jama'ath (NTJ), founded by Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zaharan alias Zaharan Hashim, the suicide bomber that detonated himself at Shangri-La hotel in Colombo.


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