PTI
Colombo, January 11
A total of 42 persons have been charged in the 2019 Easter bombings cases, the Sri Lankan police have said, dismissing Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith’s allegations that the attack was a “conspiracy” by the current ruling party led by the powerful Rajapaksas, then in opposition, to gain power.
Nine suicide bombers belonging to local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three Catholic churches and as many luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, killing nearly 270 persons, including 11 Indians, and injuring over 500.
In a statement on Monday, the police noted that Cardinal Ranjith on Sunday expressed his views to suggest that the “attacks were allowed to be carried out, despite having prior information about them, solely to obtain votes”.
He also suggested that the bombings “were a conspiracy by the present government (then in opposition)” and “the detectives are not keen on revealing details regarding the investigations on the attacks”. —
(The article is generated from feeds via CT, The Chenab Times staff didn’t write this news.)
The Chenab Times News Desk