Sri Lankan President Sirisena appoints special committee to investigate serial blasts

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has announced the appointment of a special committee led by retired Supreme Court judge to investigate the attacks and submit its report within two weeks. Thirteen local suspects have been arrested for their involvement in the serial blasts across the country yesterday which has claimed 207 lives.

At least 450 people were injured and hospitalized following the attacks targeting three five-star hotels in capital Colombo and three churches across the country. An Improvised Explosive Device was detected and diffused near the departure area of Bandaranaike International Airport last evening. Security has been tightened at all sensitive places.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, the government had intelligence inputs about such attacks and it will look into why adequate precautions were not taken. In a late night statement, Mr Wickremesinghe said the names of suspects that have come up are local, but investigators will look into whether they had any overseas links.

Meanwhile, curfew imposed across the country since last afternoon has been lifted. Schools are closed till tomorrow while Universities have been instructed to close down till further notice.

"Yesterday’s attacks in Sri Lanka reminded the country of three decades of ethnic war which ended in 2009. Investigations so far reveal the involvement of local extremist groups and it has to be seen whether they had any foreign backing. Police have arrested 13 locals and 10 have been handed over to CID for further investigations.

Meanwhile, police curfew has been lifted since morning but security vigil remains to avoid recurrence of such incidents. Governments have urged calm and patience among people to avoid any religious disturbances." (AIR NEWS)

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