Colombo: Sri Lanka Army’s chief has said that some of the suicide bombers who carried out the country’s worst terror attack on Easter Sunday visited Kashmir and Kerala for “some sorts of training” or to “make some more links” with other foreign outfits. It is the first time that a top Sri Lankan security official has confirmed the militants’ visit to India which had shared intelligence inputs with Colombo ahead of the attack. Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on April 21, killing 253 people and injuring over 500 others.
In an interview to BBC, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, Commander of the Army, divulged details on the movements of the suspects in the region and international links. “They (the suspects) have gone to India, they’ve gone to Kashmir, Bangalore, they’ve travelled to Kerala state. Those are the information available with us,” he said. Asked what activities they were doing in Kashmir and Kerala, the Army chief said: “Not exactly, but definitely in some sorts of training or to make some more links towards the other organisations outside the country”.
Meanwhile, police in Lanka on Saturday asked members of the public to hand over swords or other large knives to the nearest police station after a haul of such blades were recovered from mosques and homes during searches following the Easter attacks. Announcing the amnesty scheme, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said the knives used for day-to-day “domestic” and “justifiable” purposes were not required to be handed over to police.
