Sri Lanka has released photographs of six suspects, including three women, wanted for their involvement in the deadly Easter attacks that killed nearly 250 people. Police have intensified search and arrested 16 people, taking the number of those in custody to 76.
Nine suicide bombers, believed to be the members of local terror group called National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on Easter Sunday.
Police today released the names and pictures of the suspects and sought information regarding them from public.
#BREAKING: Sri Lanka Police release the name and photographs of several suspects wanted in connection with Sri Lanka Suicide Bombings that killed 359 and injured more than 500. Public can provide information on following local SL number: 0718591771, 0112422176 & 0112395606. pic.twitter.com/p3H38wOdQ3
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) April 25, 2019
Many of the arrested people have suspected links to the NTJ, the group blamed for the bombings. However, ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks and identified suicide bombers who carried out the devastating blasts.
A Muslim group in Sri Lanka says it alerted security officials about one of the suspects in the Easter Sunday bombings - three years ago. pic.twitter.com/KKu8Zch4Px
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 24, 2019
Authorities have deployed thousands of troops to help police carry out search operations.
Over 5,000 army personnel have been deployed around the country.
Update: Inshaf & Ilham Ibrahim are the affluent brothers involved in the #SriLanka jihadist bombings. When police raided their affluent family home, one of the brother’s pregnant wife detonated a bomb killing herself, her children, & 3 police officers. https://t.co/0urQ3izWtu
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) April 25, 2019
"During the last 24 hours, there have been no major incidents. We have deployed over 6,300 troops. This includes 1,000 from the Airforce and 600 from the Navy," military spokesman Brigadier Sumith Atapattu said.
Today, a minor explosion happened behind the magistrate's court in Pugoda, 40 Kms north of Colombo. The police said that the explosion occurred in a garbage dump and that there were no injuries. A probe has been launched to ascertain the cause.
#WATCH Colombo: CCTV Footage of suspected terrorist at Shangri-La Hotel on Easter Sunday. #SriLankaBombings (Video courtesy- News First) pic.twitter.com/dQrHTDE7C9
— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2019
Search operations of suspected properties, arrests and detention of people and to place road blocks for such operations have been facilitated by the newly-enforced emergency regulations.
BREAKING: ISIS release picture of Sri Lanka bombings 'mastermind' and seven attackershttps://t.co/oBB9bVyQAO pic.twitter.com/WuQVAIdGdc
— Mirror Breaking News (@MirrorBreaking_) April 23, 2019
The regulations were adopted without a vote in Parliament on Wednesday.
The curfew will be imposed at 10 PM.
Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, the head of the local catholic church, has asked all churches to stop masses until the situation improved, his office said.
.@gcaw: The #SriLanka bombings were among the more spectacular in the history of terrorism, and they almost certainly took more planning than would have been possible in the five weeks since the Christchurch attacks on Muslims. https://t.co/fIvuzHXk32
— Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) April 25, 2019
On Wednesday, the Sri Lankan government admitted that "major" intelligence lapses led to the horrific coordinated attacks.
#BREAKING: In a surprise development Sri Lanka Govt issues a fresh statement revising the earlier stated death toll of people killed in Sunday Easter Suicide bombings in the country. Sri Lanka says 253 people killed and not 359. pic.twitter.com/2pPopUF9Vh
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) April 25, 2019