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SUSPECTED MASTERMIND OF THE
SUICIDE TRUCK BLAST OF THE TEMPLE OF THE TOOTH KANDY ARRESTED AT AMPARA
(By Walter Jayawardhana)
Sri Lanka’s elite Police commando force arrested a prime suspect
wanted in connection with suicide truck bomb destruction of the world
famous Temple of the Tooth of the Buddha at Kandy , a Unesco protected
World heritate site, nearly two decades ago.
A place revered by all Buddhists of the world was partially destructed
by a explosive laden suicide truck bomb attack by the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE) at 6.10 a.m. January 25 1998 just a week before
a scheduled visit by Britain’s heir to the throne Prince Charles
to the historic temple. Most who died were devotees who brought the
early morning Buddha Pooja to the temple.
The Police commandos of the Special Task Force said, it was able to
arrest the mastermind of the Temple attack that killed twelve people
and wounded 25 by the suicide attack that shocked the whole world, in
the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka , from which all LTTE forces have
been driven out from all their military barracks reccently.
Many suicide attacks in kandy, Galle and Polonnaruwa and even Colombo
for decades had been directed from the Eastern Province from which the
LTTE had better access to those districts.
The STF has identified the arrested person as Nawasiwayam Suwendirarasa
a.k.a. Nithyanandan (Anna) and said the Criminal Investigation Department
(CID) has been wanting this person as a prime suspect for the truck
bomb suicide blast of the Temple of the Tooth for 19 years. The front
porch of the Temple and the roof were mainly damaged by the blast but
the relic chamber was untouched by it.
Suwendirarasa was arrested in Palugamam area in the Ampara district
in the East by the STF officers of the Kalawanchikudi camp.
Further investigations are carried out by the CID and the Kalawanchikudi
Police keeping the suspect under custody on detention orders
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