• Minister Ananda Wijepala says relevant suspects are to be arrested 
• CID arrests SIS PC over ‘misleading’ Vavunathivu cop killings probe

The Ministry of Public Security stated that the ongoing investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks, now in a new phase, have revealed additional information beyond what was uncovered by the various commissions and committees that previously examined the incident.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake recently said that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials were currently working to expose the group allegedly behind the terror attacks before 21 April this year.

When queried by The Daily Morning regarding the progress of the related investigations, the Minister of Public Security, Ananda Wijepala said that the investigations had now reached a new stage. "New evidence has been recorded. In addition to what was uncovered by various commissions and committees, additional information has now come to light. The investigations are being carried out based on this new evidence."

He further said that the ongoing investigations were not influenced by any political interests, adding that the focus was on uncovering the truth and delivering justice. "What the President meant was that a reasonable amount of time has passed, and that now is the time to act, not that he was only referring to 21 April 2025. The necessary environment is being created to bring those responsible to justice. The relevant suspects will be arrested."

Meanwhile, a Police Constable (PC) attached to the State Intelligence Service (SIS) has been arrested by the CID. The arrested individual is a PC from the District Intelligence Bureau in Karadiyanaru, attached to the SIS. The PC has been arrested in connection with investigations into the murder of two Police officers attached to the Vavunathivu Police Station in 2018, which is suspected to have been carried out by supporters of National Thowheeth Jamaa’th Leader Zahran Hashim, who was behind the Easter Sunday terror attacks. The investigation into the murder has uncovered that the arrested PC had acted in a manner that misled investigations regarding the murder.

On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three Churches (the St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, the St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, and the Zion Church in Batticaloa) and three luxury Hotels in Colombo (the Cinnamon Grand, The Kingsbury, and the Shangri-La) were targeted in a series of coordinated suicide bombings. Later that day, another two bomb explosions took place at a house in Dematagoda and the Tropical Inn Lodge in Dehiwala. More than 270 people excluding the bombers were killed in and due to the bombings.