{"id":88290,"date":"2019-05-06T23:45:39","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T05:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88290"},"modified":"2019-05-19T03:45:51","modified_gmt":"2019-05-19T10:45:51","slug":"easter-sunday-bomb-blast-in-sri-lanka-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/06\/easter-sunday-bomb-blast-in-sri-lanka-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"EASTER SUNDAY BOMB BLAST IN SRI LANKA Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Revised 17.5.19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jihadist radicals in the East and elsewhere were closely monitored for\nyears by Sri Lankan intelligence, said analysts. Yahapalana tried to crush\nthe intelligence sector of the military, by imprisoning its best men. But, in\nspite of this, the military had obtained prior intelligence relating to these\nattacks and conveyed the information to higher authorities, said Mahinda\nRajapaksa, speaking after the bomb blast. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Economist<\/em> too, noted\nthat the\nintelligence apparatus was on the trail of jihadist groups including NTJ until\naround 2016. National Security Council, under Rajapaksa, had  met once a week but meetings  became less and less under Yahapalana, until\nit became \u2018pointless\u2019, said Economist<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directorate of Military\nIntelligence   confirms this. Until 2015,\na meeting of the Intelligence Coordinating Committee took place every Tuesday\nat the Ministry of Defence. There was the National Security Council (NSC)\ndiscussion on Wednesday, too. After 2016, the NSC meeting dropped to once a\nfortnight, sometimes once in three weeks. And the focus continued to be on the\nLTTE, not other dangers. Directorate of Military Intelligence had   suggested that they should be allowed to\ninfiltrate certain organizations and the state should introduce laws to reel\nthem. Once Yahapalana   government came\nin none of them were interested, said the military. This is \u2018national mindset\u2019\nversus \u2018liberal mindset\u201d said critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the military seems to have quietly continued its surveillance\nfunctions, because when the bomb blasts occurred they were ready with the\nnecessary information.  In 2015, the\nDirectorate of Military Intelligence had set up a separate \u2018ISIS Cell\u2019 to\nmonitor activities of those working for ISIS in Sri Lanka .This was done after\nthey noted an increase in the Facebook posts. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This yielded results and Military Intelligence was able to identify\nthe network of the pro ISIS terror groups, their leaders and areas of\noperations. They were able to immediately name the two organizations\nresponsible, National Thawheed Jamath (NTJ) and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim\n(JMI). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Directorate of\nMilitary Intelligence    \u2018possessed \u2018a\ndetailed list of local operatives   a<\/em>nd within hours of the bombing, the\nmilitary and police swooped down on at least 24 suspects, suggesting that they\nknew exactly where the group had been operating. They were quickly able to\nlocate their safe houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A veritable arsenal of weapons is being recovered by police commandos\nand intelligence who obviously know exactly where to go and what \u2018safe houses\u2019\nto pinpoint, said Kishali Pinto Jayawardene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What surprised and angered many people was the lightning speed with\nwhich police and security forces began arresting suspects, and arresting them\nin stunningly large numbers. Obviously, police had information on these\nsuspects and when a warning was given about impending attacks targeting\nchurches and hotels, it should have been obvious to anyone to connect the two\ndots said Rajan  Philips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within 24 hours of the blast, detonators and explosives emerged from\nhouses, ditches, bus stands. A large stock of explosives and detonators were\nfound in a house near Nochchiyagama filling station.    87 low explosive detonators abandoned at\nthe private bus stand in Bastian Mawatha, Colombo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was deep anger as well as grief, over the bomb blasts and the\ngrinning indifferent Yahapalana government had no alternative but to declare a\nstate of emergency and ask the security forces to go into action. Sri Lanka\nmilitary is a well trained      and very\nexperienced force.  It has successfully\ncrushed two JVP insurgencies in 1971 and  \n1989 and defeated the LTTE in 2009. They knew exactly how to flush out the\noperatives in this Jihad operation,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The response of the armed forces to the bomb blast was most\nimpressive.  Once a state of emergency\nwas declared, the military \u2018poured troops onto the streets\u2019 to back up the\npolice as they searched for suspects. Cordon and search operations were set up\nall over the country. Roadblocks, vehicle checks, raids on suspicious spots,\nscreening of certain locations, were done. A combined raid was carried out by\nPolice, Navy and the Air Force at Mandulkuda, Kalpitiya.A combined Police, STF and Army search operation in Kalmunai. By 2.5.2019 they had arrested 120 persons.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public gave many tip offs to the military. Police Commandos had\ndetected 12 kilos of high explosives and electronic devices from a forest area\nin Shanthipuram, Mannar, following information provided by a resident of the\narea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panadura South Police following information\nreceived searched a \u2018safe house\u2019, in Panadura, belonging to the Sri Lanka\nHashimi Foundation of Muslim Refugees run by Pakistani and Afghan Nationals. Prayers were conducted\nthere in the night. Residents in the area also handed over a petition against\nthe suspicious conduct of prayers in the building, to the Panadura Urban\nCouncil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suicide bomber group had money.  \nCID found over Rs. 140 million in cash, and other assets worth over Rs.\n7 billion belonging to the Easter Sunday bombers. There were 41 bank accounts.\nHelpers in the bomb blasts were each paid Rs 2 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suicide bombers   had rented seven houses in several areas\nincluding Mahawila, Kochchikade, Badalgama and Lucky Plaza in Kollupitiya. They\nhad also rented seven vehicles for their use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17 safe houses were found. They were at\nKatuwapitiya-Negombo, Sarikkamulla-Panadura, Wanathawilluwa,\nEnderamulla-Wattala, Saindamarudu nine, Malwana, Kalagedihena-Thihariya,\nDaluwakotuwa-Kochchikade, Walachchna-Ridiyatenna, Subarathipura-Kuliyapitiya,\nHettipola, Katupotha, Nindavur, Samanthurai and at St. Anthony’s Road-Colombo\n3, Mayura Place-Colombo 06.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The police also found seven training centers at Wanathawilluwa,\nHambantota, Nuwara Eliya, Aruppola, Malwana, Kattankudy and Walachchenai. The\nKattankudy centre was disguised as a farm. It was\n15 acres in extent and had a firing range. The training centre maintained by\nthe National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) at Black Pool, Nuwara Eliya  had trained 38 persons. Zaharan Hashim too\nhad trained there. The last rehearsal of the Easter Sunday bombings was held at\nBlack Pool, on April 17. It was supervised by Zaharan.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blackpool raid yielded a bonus. Police found details pertaining to\nthe local members of the ISIS terrorist network in a laptop found at Blackpool .The\nintelligence services confirmed that the information saved in the laptop were\noriginal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The security forces looked at those with links to\nISIS. CID questioned the parents of a powerful local ISIS member, who is in\nSyria. They said that they visited their son in Syria and stayed there for\nabout one and a half years. He is living there with his family and spending a\nluxury life, they said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welikada Police arrested a Councilor of the Kotte Sri Jayewardenepura\nMunicipal Council and his brother for distributing materials in support of the\nISIS terrorist organization. Swords and manna knives were also seized during\nthe arrest. ( Daily News 8.5.19 p 4) the\nAssistant Director of the Langama Pasala Hodama\nPasala project<\/em> <\/em>of the Ministry of Education was arrested for\nallegedly encouraging Islamic extremism and the Islamic State.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Moulavi has been arrested in the Nawala area\nwith CD\u2019s containing extremist preaching and pictures of the Kochchikade\nchurch. He had been chased away by Muslims two months back after he conducted\nextremist preaching at a mosque in the Nawala area. After the incident he is\nsaid to have rented a house in the Nawala area and had extremist preachings\nrecorded in CDs to be distributed among Muslims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The security forces arrested a youth in\nEthalawatunuwewa, Kahatagasdigiliya on a tip-off. He had arrived in the area a\nfew days ago. The police found books containing distorted Buddhist and Catholic\nliterature in his car. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

797 Compact Disks (CDs) containing recorded religious sermons and\nscenes inciting violence were found in the houses of the President and\nTreasurer of a mosque in Moragoda, Galle. One compact disc had the title apita\nayath ratak\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 7th<\/sup> May, the chief Operating officer at Pelawatte\nSugar Company, Shiras Abdeen had held a two hour private discussion with 13\nMuslim employees. Others had been chased away. The employees got worked up, the\npolice were called in, and Shiraz was  \nput into a van and taken away amidst the hoots of the huge number\nassembled there. (Derana news 7.5.19 )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An \u2018in-service advisor\u2019 at the Bibile Zonal\nEducation Office had been arrested for allegedly having links to the National\nThawheed Jamath, and released on bail. When he reported to work  all officers walked out. The Education\nMinistry of the Uva Provincial Council suspended him till the investigations\nare completed. The  officers resumed\nwork. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This movement has established itself island wide. The widespread\nnature of the movement emerged with the searches. Cells, training centers,\nhideaways , weapons and  other  items of significance were found in  Akurana, Alutgama, Anuradhapura  Badulla, Balapitiya, Bandaragama, Bandarawela\n,Beruwela, Bibile, Bulathkohupitiya, Colombo (  \nBattaramulla ,Dehiwela, Dematagoda, Slave island, Wellawatte)\nDaulagala,  Dickwella, Dummalasuriya,\nEnderamulla, Ettampitiya, Erakkandi, \nEravur, Galkiriyagama, Galle, \nGampola,  Hambantota , Hakmana,\nHorowpotana, Jaela, Kadawata, Kaduwela, Kahatagasdiliya, Kalutara,  Kalmunai, Kalpitiya.  Kantalai, Katugastota,  Kebethigollewa,  Kegalle, Kekirawa, Kurunegala, Kinniya,\nKiriella, Koswatta, Kotiyakumbura, Kuliyapitiya,  Mabola, Madampe, Mandalkuda, Mannar,\nMarawila, Maskeliya, Matale,  Matara,\n,Mawanella, Medirigiriya. Moneragala, Moragollagama,  Moratuwa, Mundalama, Nacchaduwa,  Nawalapitiya, Negombo, Nikaveratiya,\nNintavur,   Nittambuwa, Panama,\nPanduwasnuwara pasyala Peradeniya, \nPoddala, Pothuvil, Pulmoddai, Puttalam, Raddolugama,  Ragama, \nRatgama, Ratmalana, Samanthurai, Serunuwara, Tangalle. Telwatte, Tihariya, Trincomalee, Udunuwara, Ukuwela,\nVavuniya, Veyangoda, Weligama, Welikanda, Welimada, Welipenna, Welisara,    Wellawaya \nand Yatiyantota.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security searches revealed large stocks of detonators,  explosives,  \ngelignite ,  switches , water\ngel,  petrol bombs, safety fuses (each\nabout 12.5ft in length) grenades and weapons such as axes, daggers, guns,  swords, knives, pistols and  ammunition. suicide vests, walkie \u2013talkies,  hi-tech equipment , army uniforms, camouflage\nuniforms.     Weapons were found in\nHamilton canal Negombo and the Kelaniya river. Weapons were also found hidden\ninside almirahs, in wells  and on the top\nof roofs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CDs and DVDs containing \nextremist propaganda  emerged in\nthe searches. The military also found video recordings of the Easter Sunday\nbombings, photographs of Zaharan Hashim and photos and videos of the\nWanathavilluwa training camp. Bogus degree certificates,  bogus IDs, bogus passports,  savings books of Bank of Ceylon were also\nfound. 15 identity cards belonging to Muslims wrapped in a plastic bag and\nplaced on a plate, were found in an abandoned house in Salambakulam. The bag\nalso held NICs, driving licences and office identity cards of  Muslims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military found many detonators and explosives island wide in their\nsearches. It is believed that large stocks\nof explosives were smuggled to Sri Lanka through the Mannar coast. several\ninfluential persons In the Mannar area have helped in this exercise,  talking to the Police when arrests or\ninquiries are made.   <\/strong>At Pulmoddai they found 89\ndetonators, water gel etc hidden in a house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is  an account of one\nlarge  haul. Acting on a tip-off, the\nKuda Oya police,  raided a farm, where a\nlarge consignment of arms and ammunition and including sniper guns had been\nburied, and arrested the owner of the owner of the property, Jezley Abdul\nCassim, a businessman, living in the US, holding dual citizenship. He was\narrested at his Dehiwala residence, where the police recovered another stock of\narms and ammunition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the items taken into custody in Kuda Oya were four sniper guns,\na galkatas (locally manufactured firearm) two repeater gun, three 12 bore guns,\ntwo M 77 weapons, three telescopes used for guns, a communication set, a pen\ndrive, SIM cards, a book containing details about sophisticated firearms. The\npolice also recovered 342 rounds of T-56 ammunition, 163 cartridges used for 12\nbore guns, 430 cartridges (long) used for two bore guns, 21 cartridges of No.\n16 used for 12 bore guns, 110 M 16 cartridges, 75 cartridges used for 9 mm\npistols, 169 cartridges used for 7 mm pistols, five smoke bombs, a handcuff, 14\nkris knives and razor blades, two machetes, four boxes containing cartridges\nused for air rifles and 2,773 REM cartridges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Two children who went to the\nfarm in search of bamboo spotted some suspicious boxes lying there and alerted\ntheir parents. The elders who rushed to the farm promptly informed the police\nafter seeing the arms and ammunition in the boxes. ( (Island 14.5.19)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know what they are getting ready for, said\nCardinal Malcolm Ranjith. Security forces have found swords and daggers in\nmosques. They are preparing for a Jihad attack. Jihad is a holy war\nwaged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty. Their enemy is the\nChristians, Buddhists and Hindus.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All over the country, swords were found, in huge\nquantities, brand new, stacked together and waiting. The number of knives and\nswords seized  stood at 13,000 in May,\n2019, reported the media. 300  unused, Chinese made swords were found at\nSlave island, Colombo.   56 swords unused\nand still  in  their sheaths were found in a well in\nMaligawatte, Colombo. Swords were found hidden in the sugar cane plantation in\nPelawatte. Five swords  had been buried\non a coconut estate at Alakandupitiya, Darga Nagar. 50 swords had been\ndistributed in Beruwala. Swords were \nfound in several houses in Ratgama. 300 large knives used for cutting\nsugarcane had gone missing from the Hingurana Sugar factory stores.\nDummalasuriya Arabic College had a logo of two crossed swords. The coconut\ntrees in the compound had been used for knife practice.  The school boys were being trained to kill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swords were found in many mosques, such as Maskeliya Jumma mosque, The\nswords  were of various lengths, clearly\nto suit different heights of persons. A stock of 46 swords was found hidden\nunder the bed of the Moulavi of Kadil Jumma Mosque near the Defence College, in\nSlave Island, 46 swords, and  a small gun which was loaded, were found in a\nwell in close proximity to a mosque near the Khettarama grounds in\nMaligawatte.. 20 camouflage military uniforms were recovered from a mosque,\nnear Temple Trees. A suicide west was also found in Kadil Jumma Mosque near the\nDefence College, in Slave Island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saharan\u2019s wife and Katuwapitiya\nchurch bomber Hasthun’s wife had bought nine sets of white clothing, nine\nblouses, skirts and under garments.  They\nwill be needed in the future, they had said. Fabrics similar to saffron robes\nworn by Buddhist monks were also found. Clearly they were planning to bomb\nBuddhist temples.  <\/em>That would have been part of the jihad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this movement was not\nconfining itself to sporadic jihads. This movement was clearly  planning something much bigger than  jihad. This movement was preparing for  a full blown war. The Muslims were getting\nready to take over the whole country. This is shown in the military\npreparations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A communication signal jammer so\npowerful that they could disrupt walkie talkie communications was found in\nNegombo . At Vavuniya, they found a digital tape which can be used to launch a\nlaser attack. At Epitamulla, Mirihana \nthey found a rocket propelled grenade. \nat Mannar they found an unregistered drone.  In Navanthurei in Jaffna an underground\nbunker had been constructed with funds from a Muslim  organization .The owner had been told to\nconstruct prison cells in the bunker. Two men who were taking video footage of\na security post in Hijragama along the Horowpathana road were arrested.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movement  also possessed large collections of military\nuniforms. Army uniform, camouflage uniforms,    the uniforms of  Air force, STF and\npolice  were found in the searches. 456\narmy uniforms were found in one cache. Over 1,000 uniforms worn by security\nforces personnel  (STF), were found in\nThalapitiya, Galle.  ( continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Revised 17.5.19 Jihadist radicals in the East and elsewhere were closely monitored for years by Sri Lankan intelligence, said analysts. Yahapalana tried to crush the intelligence sector of the military, by imprisoning its best men. But, in spite of this, the military had obtained prior intelligence relating to these attacks and conveyed the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris","category-terrorism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}