Shangri-La suicide bomber obtained empty cartridges discarded by army

By Bingun Menaka Gamage   

Insaf Ahmed, the suicide bomber who blew himself up at Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo, had obtained used cartridges cast aside by the Army through the Industrial Development Board (IDB). This information had been obtained by our sister paper ‘Lankadeepa’ by utilising the Right to Information Act. 

• Powerful govt. politico helped to get them from the IDB

The suicide bomber had been able to get his hands on the used cartridges under a facility provided to small industrialists. It is revealed that Insaf Ahmed had visited the board on several occasions and was able to procure the cartridges through the mediation of a powerful government politico.   

He was registered as an Entrepreneur under Colossus Private Ltd at 111/6 Avissawella Road, Wellampitiya under the name M. I. Insaf Ahmed Registered Number 1611216. He had made these purchases for productions at the copper factory he owned. Police suspect that the bombs used to cause chaos on Easter Sunday had been assembled by him at this factory.   
Ahmed’s family consisted of nine siblings. Ilham Ahmed, a brother, died at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel after blasting one of the bombs, while his wife and two children were killed after a bomb exploded inside a house located at Mahavila gardens in Dematagoda just as security forces personnel were about to enter the premises and arrest them.   

The police, who raided the copper factory owned by Insaf Ahmed,  had taken into custody nine persons including the manager, who were later remanded. A salient feature of the purchases of used cartridges by Ahmed was that they had been bought in large quantities, deviating from the normal procedure of allocations made to small industrialists.