COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s State Minister for Public Security Tiran Alles on Monday (28) criticized Catholic leaders for not heeding his repeated requests to jointly revisit the probes into the 2019 Easter Sunday attack and help the police to get their views on the flaws and shortcomings in the investigations.

Though police investigations and court process are in the process against the key suspects of the Easter Sunday attacks, most people led by Catholic leaders have expressed their dissatisfaction on the probes because they have failed to find the real culprits behind the carnage that killed at least 269 people, and the motives behind the coordinated suicide bombing.

Local Islamic extremists led the multiple suicide attacks, but Catholic leaders have demanded the whole truth about the carnage.

Alles said the police criminal investigation department had almost completed 99% of its probe..

“But from the Catholic community, some hold press conferences and give voice cuts, saying that the investigations have not been done properly. This is why, in consensus with President Ranil Wickremesimghe, I handed over all the reports, which were not previous given to the Catholic leaders,” Alles told reporters in a media briefing on Monday.

The complete report of a Presidential Commission which investigated the Easter Sunday attacks, was handed over to the Catholic Church by Alles in April. The reports were not released under the former leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government.

“When I handed over the report, and prior to that, I told the Catholic Church leaders to give us an opportunity to explain the investigations that we have done up to date. I told them when they go through the investigations, their Bishops or some other leaders could point out the loopholes in the investigations so that we can go forward with this investigations together.

“Unfortunately, we have not been given that opportunity so far,” he lamented.

Islamist extremists blew themselves up in three main churches and three high-end hotels across the country in a synchronized attack on the morning of April 21, 2019, Easter Sunday.

Alles said some people “who have different agenda” have been telling different stories and dragging the investigations for a long time

“But I have repeatedly told them that if the Catholic leaders or Catholic community really want to know who was behind this and how this happened, then they will have to revisit the investigation jointly,” he said, adding, “Once they go through they can tell us the deficiencies and we can rectify them.”

 -economynext.com