Easter bombers planned second attack: Police

Sunday, 19 April 2020 19:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A second attack was planned by the perpetrators of the Easter Sunday Bombings, the Police said today.

Police Spokesman SP Jaliya Senarathne, addressing a press conference at the Information Department this afternoon, stated that information regarding the planned second attack was revealed by the ongoing investigations into the bombings by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

According to Senarathne, several persons involved were arrested recently. The spokesman stated that the group, led by Zahran Hashim, had pretended to have split into two in order to mislead intelligence agencies.

"According to ongoing investigations, it has been revealed that these suspects who were arrested (recently) have worked with certain organisation in order to preach Muslim extremism, misleading youth by giving them a wrong interpretation of Islam," he said.

SP Senarathne also denied allegations that a lawyer who was recently arrested was acting in his professional capacity, alleging that the lawyer had acted illegally.