• CCTV footage shows a suspicious man entering the church and leaving  something on the ground

By Yohan Perera 

Whilst rejecting the information revealed by the police on the recovering of a hand grenade at All Saint’s Church Borella on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith called for a transparent investigation on the incident. 

Cardinal Ranjith told a press conference that the police had not viewed the video clips of the incident. “Police only viewed clips of the CCTV camera in the church for some reason. The Sacristan (caretaker) of the church was arrested only by viewing the clips, which were recorded after 3 pm on that day,” Cardinal Ranjith said. 
“I requested the parish priest to view the video clips recorded during the whole day. It is revealed by the CCTV camera that a suspicious man enters inside the church and keeps something on the ground.

 Then he puts the traditional ‘sign of the cross’ which is a practice carried out by the Catholics when worshipping. However, this person does it in the wrong way. It could be confirmed by this action that this person is not a catholic,” Cardinal Ranjith said. 

“Also, this person comes limping and goes back from the church walking in a stable manner,” he added. 
“In such circumstances, we appeal to the police to carry out a proper investigation. One should not wear uniforms if they cannot carry out their job in a proper manner,” he also said.  

•  The Sacristan (caretaker) of the church was arrested only by viewing the clips, which were recorded after 3 pm on that day