The main Parliamentary Opposition Party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), queried about the actions taken against certain officers in the State Intelligence Service (SIS), who, in certain instances, allegedly blocked the investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) into the Easter Sunday attacks that took place in 2019.

Speaking in the Parliament yesterday (24), during the three-day adjournment debate on the Easter Sunday attacks which commenced yesterday, SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa claimed that the authorities have disregarded information revealed about certain crucial incidents and individuals who are allegedly linked with the attacks when carrying out the investigations, even though the Government claims that 99% of the investigations are concluded. Stating that no investigation reveals information about an individual named ‘Abu Hind’ who is considered to be the mastermind behind the attacks, Premadasa questioned as to why no investigation has been carried out into the particular person.

He also noted that a statement given by ‘Haadiya’, who is the wife of ‘Zahran Hashim’, the latter being the leader of the terrorist group that launched the attacks, clearly says that ‘Zahran’ received calls from the person named ‘Abu Hind’, who has, according to her, a local Tamil accent. Therefore, he queried the Government over the lack of investigations carried out against that person.

He claimed that the SIS has not worked with the CID to carry out the investigations properly, but had instead reportedly blocked certain measures taken by the CID in this regard. Posing a series of questions to the Government, Premadasa claimed that the Government has not taken enough measures to investigate the alleged links between the terrorists and certain officials in the SIS. He further claimed that either the Chief of the SIS, Major General Suresh Sallay, or a person called ‘Colonel Ansar’ have allegedly had connections with a suicide bomber, as claimed by Assad Moulana, whose testimony in the Channel 4 documentary became controversial recently, and Ajith Dharmapala, who is a Sri Lankan Police officer living abroad. Premadasa claimed that no investigation was carried out to verify the allegations made by the aforementioned duo.

Moreover, he stated that the SJB is no longer demanding justice for the victims of the attacks from this Government, adding that a special investigation will be launched by a future SJB-led Government to bring justice to all the victims.

The Easter Sunday attacks on 21 April 2019, targeting churches and hotels, claimed lives in the triple digit range including of foreigners.

The Government of India has decided to bear the cost towards applicable taxes and other charges to the tune of over LKR 25 million per month for a period of one year for the passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam in India and Kankesanthurai (KKS).

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is set to make a final decision on its presidential candidate in June, according to Party sources. The SLPP will decide whether to nominate a candidate from within the Party or to support President Ranil Wickremesinghe for re-election. The Party has scheduled a series of electoral summits starting next week to seek public opinion on the presidential candidate.

apanese Foreign Minister Yōko Kamikawa called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday. The Japanese Government’s intention to resume the Yen-denominated loans and the stalled Japanese investment initiatives, including the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) expansion project and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, were among the topics taken up for discussion. Discussions were also held on the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) pertaining to debt restructuring in Sri Lanka.

Nearly 10,000 soldiers who deserted the Sri Lanka Army have received legal discharge as of May 4 during an amnesty period declared by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence.

The Examinations Department issued the rescrutiny results of the 2022 (2023) General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (O/L) Examination yesterday. They said a total of 49,312 applicants had applied for rescrutiny and 250,311 answers were rescrutinised.

Tourism Industry veterans cautioned that heightened confusion over the new visa system, along with the abrupt increase in visa fees, could derail 2.3 million tourist arrival target set for the year. This could potentially reduce arrivals below 2 million, while service providers stand to gain $50 million in fees.

The Supreme Court granted leave to proceed with the Fundamental Rights petition filed by former CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekara challenging the National Police Commission’s decision to interdict him from police service following the Presidential Election 2019.

China assured its fullest support and cooperation to conclude the debt restructuring process in Sri Lanka, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said.

Former President Maithripala Sirisena has appeared before the Criminal Investigations Department in order to record a statement yesterday (3). Accordingly, Sirisena recorded a statement for two hours at the CID, regarding the Easter Sunday terror attacks.

Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, in response to allegations about the tender process, said there is no such requirement to call for tenders because these are the only companies involved in e-visa processing in different countries.