'Sri Lanka safe now, all extremists linked to Easter bombings killed or arrested,’ claim authorities

While addressing a press conference, on Monday night acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana Wickremaratne said that all those directly linked to the attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels have been arrested or were killed.

Written By : ABP News Bureau | Updated at : 07 May 2019 01:00 PM (IST)

Sri Lanka safe now, all extremists linked to Easter bombings killed or arrested, authorities claim 'Sri Lanka safe now, all extremists linked to Easter bombings killed or arrested,’ claim authorities

Sri Lankan navy personnel carry on repair works on the facade of St. Anthony's Shrine in Colombo on May 5, 2019, two week after a series of bomb blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka. - With the army staging raids across the country and authorities maintaining high levels of security, the country's 1.25 million Christians are still on edge after jihadist bombers killed 257 people. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP)

Sri Lankan officials have assured people that the country is now safe

The commanders of military bodies and police, claimed that all the Islamic extremists involved in the serial blasts are either killed or are arrestes

They said that all the explosives believed to be linked to local Islamist outfit National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) have been found

New Delhi: About a fortnight after terrorists launched a series of bombings in Sri Lanka, killing more than 250 people on Easter Sunday, the island nation’s officials have assured people that the country is now safe. The commanders of military bodies and police, claimed that all the Islamic extremists involved in the serial blasts are either killed or are arrested and the place is now safe and can get back to normalcy, agencies reported. While addressing a press conference, on Monday night acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana Wickremaratne said that all those directly linked to the attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels have been arrested or were killed and that all the explosives believed to be linked to local Islamist outfit National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) which is blamed for the attacks, have been found. The commanders of the three forces and the police chief said that security of the country has been ensured with adequate measured and steps have been taken to implement a special security plan. "All explosives possessed by the terrorist group has been seized. Almost everyone identified with the group have been arrested. Two of their bomb experts have died in the clashes. The police can happily announce that everyone with direct links have been either arrested or killed by now," Wickremaratne was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. As per police spokesman of the country Ruwan Gunasekera, 73 people, including nine women, were arrested and being questioned by the CID and the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) The police spokesman also said the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) identified more than Rs 140 million cash and other assets worth over Rs 7 billion belonging to the NTJ. The powerful multiple explosions which shook the Sri Lankan capital Colombo and its nearby places to the core, on April 21, were claimed by the Islamic State terror group, but the government blamed ISIS linked local Islamist extremist group NTJ. Government has reopened schools and the army has urged public to return to their day to day activities. The Easter Sunday attacks ripped through three leading hotels and three churches.