The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has begun investigating claims by three men convicted over the Easter Sunday attacks that those truly responsible remain at large, the Fort Magistrate’s Court was told on Wednesday.
Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris said the three men, identified as Milhan, Rizkan and Zainul Abdeen, made the claims before a three-judge High Court bench even though they were being convicted. He described the statements as serious and asked for permission for eight CID officers to visit the prison and record statements from them.
The submissions were made as the court took up the case against three suspects, including former State Intelligence Service Director, retired Major General Suresh Sallay, over allegations of misleading investigations into the attacks. Peiris said investigations that had slowed earlier were now moving swiftly, and that statements were recorded last week from several important witnesses.
One of them is Mikel Xavier Vilvarasingham, alias Rajan, who gave information to Army Intelligence. Peiris said Rajan visited the residence of a man named Theepan before the attacks, on instructions from the Army, and saw a woman in a black burqa and a man speaking a Tamil dialect associated with Batticaloa. Theepan is a friend of businessman Alawdeen, the father-in-law of suicide bomber Inshaf Ahmed.
After the attacks, Rajan allegedly identified the woman as Sara Jasmine from television news and told an Army Corporal named Suranga, who allegedly told him to stay silent and forget it. Peiris alleged that this was done with Sallay’s knowledge.
Peiris also told the court that investigators were examining allegations that Sallay helped arrange a forged diplomatic passport for former LTTE member Karuna Amman to travel to the United Kingdom. He said Karuna Amman had told investigators the passport was issued in the name of Kokila Dushmantha, described as a Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, although investigators say no such person exists. The CID has also recorded a statement from former Minister Douglas Devananda, after information that he introduced a key witness, Azad Maulana, to the Karuna and Pillayan factions.
President’s Counsel Shavindra Fernando, appearing for Sallay, rejected the allegations. He said the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence, that the case rested entirely on statements, and that Sallay was in France when the passport was allegedly prepared.
Magistrate Pasan Amarasena asked about the investigation into former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is under an overseas travel ban in the case but has not been named a suspect. Peiris said that inquiry was at an advanced stage, that Rajapaksa had not been named because inquiries into other suspects continue, and that a case he filed is pending before the Court of Appeal. He said permission to travel could be granted on humanitarian grounds for medical treatment in Singapore.
Background
The Easter Sunday attacks took place on 21 April 2019, when suicide bombers struck three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka. More than 260 people were killed. Sallay headed the State Intelligence Service at the time.
The case before the Fort Magistrate’s Court concerns allegations that the investigation into the attacks was misled. It is separate from the trial in which the three men were convicted by the High Court bench.
What it means
Families of the victims and the wider public have long sought a full account of who planned and enabled the attacks. The CID inquiry into the convicts’ claims and the progress of the case against Sallay will be tested in court, where the accused are entitled to contest each allegation.
