Conspiracy to embarrass Govt.minister Sarath Weerasekara

Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara said yesterday there was a main conspirator behind the incidents where hand grenades were placed at a private hospital in Narahenpita and at the Borella All Saints’ Church premises.

He told reporters that in both instances, it was the same person who placed the bombs, who had found the bombs, and informed of them.

He said this was a move to embarrass the government, police and security forces and added that the mastermind behind these incidents would be arrested soon.

Claiming that it was a childish argument to make that police was harassing people in the church, Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara said yesterday that there was clear evidence that the church employee who was arrested over the recovery of the hand grenade at the All Saints’ Church Borella, had placed the bomb there. He told reporters that it was found out that the arrested church employee had placed the bomb on the altar and set it to explode and said some tapes, some matchsticks and jos sticks used to detonate the bomb had been found in the room of the suspect.

The Minister said this person had admitted in the court that he had placed the bomb there and added that when such a person was arrested it was a childish argument to make that people in the church were harassed.

The Minister said it was true that a man had come limping to the church in the morning on that day and added that investigations were underway regarding that.

“If there are CCTV footages, they should be provided to the police. When such videos are released to the media first, these suspects can hide,” he said.

When asked about claims that police had not viewed CCTC footages in the morning, he said the complaint had been made at around 5p.m. in the evening and that the police wanted to arrest the suspects immediately.