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Intense scrutiny of Easter PCoI Report Daily News (via HT Media Ltd.)
The findings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the Easter Sunday bomb attacks on April 21, 2019 were handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa recently and have become the subject of intense scrutiny and debate due to the potential political implications of the report.
Sri Lanka had experienced relative peace and quiet since the conclusion of the Eelam War in May 2009. This tranquility came to a terrifying halt on the morning of April 21 two years ago when a series of bombs ripped through several churches and Colombo hotels in a coordinated terror attack.
Colombo (News 1st); His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has expressed his displeasure to the government for failing to take the necessary steps to - Get the latest breaking news and top stories from Sri Lanka, the latest political news, sports news, weather updates, exam results, business news, entertainment news, world news and much more from News 1st, Sri Lanka's leading news network.
By Ifham Nizam
The leader did not commit suicide at the outset in any terrorist organisation in the world. “So, we need to find out who ordered Zahran to carry out attacks. And if Sarah, the wife of one of the suicide bombers, herself had fled to India, who would have helped her? Answers to those questions should have been found, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said yesterday.
Amaraweera yesterday said that the SLFP, therefore, rejected the report by the PCoI that probed the Easter Sunday carnage.
He said that from the beginning media had reported the evidence led before the Commission about advance intelligence available about the pending attacks that Zahran was going to carry out. But in the end, it was former President Maithripala Sirisena and Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera of the Bodu Bala Sena who were blamed for the attack.
Govt in a spot island.lk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from island.lk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Friday 26th February, 2021
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) that probed the Easter Sunday carnage can easily be bracketed with the PCoI on the Treasury bond scams; both have not dug deep enough to reveal the masterminds of the crimes they were tasked with investigating. Obviously, Hashim Zahran, described as the National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) leader was only one of the attackers. The NTJ stockpiled explosives, arms and ammunition sufficient for many attacks. It had a long-term strategy; it brainwashed children and conducted training and indoctrination programmes. It need not have done so if its goal had been to carry out eight attacks in a single day. Why should an outfit train scores of cadres when the need is only for eight persons to blow themselves up? If Zahran had had ISIS links, as claimed in some quarters, he could have easily smuggled in eight foreign Jihadists to carry out the Easter Sunday attacks. Why should an organisation procure huge amounts of explosive