Three suspects produced in court over St Anthony’s Church blast

The CID yesterday produced three suspects allegedly involved in the Easter Sunday bombing at the St. Anthony’s Church Kochchikade in Colombo and the blast of a van the following day in the same vicinity.

CID detectives did not disclose the names of the three suspects for security reasons and told Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratna that the suspects were arrested after revealing their involvement in the two blasts that took place at Kochchikade.

The detectives further pleaded to detain the suspects with the CID to conduct further investigations. They also said that it had been revealed that the suspects had aided and abetted the suicide bomber to plant the bomb in the van . They further said that the registered owner of the van was the suicide bomber who blasted himself at the St Anthony’s Church..

They also said that the army bomb squad that defused the bomb had found that the bomb in the van was a remote controlled one laden with high amounts of explosives. Due to that reason, the bomb squad had to blast it without defusing it.

They said they are further investigating to identify any other suspects involved the matter. They also said that the CID will record statements of the injured victims once they recover.

The Magistrate ordered the CID to produce the suspects in court on May 23 for inspection. (T. Farook Thajudeen)