Explosive revelations emerged in Parliament today as Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, Ananda Wijepala, disclosed that former State Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, had prior knowledge of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings while he was in custody at the Batticaloa prison.
Speaking during the adjournment debate on the Easter attacks, Minister Wijepala stated that investigations have uncovered evidence linking Pillayan to prior awareness of the bombings that killed over 250 people. At the time, Pillayan was being held in connection with the 2005 assassination of former MP Joseph Pararajasingham.
The Minister noted that Pillayan had close ties with army intelligence officers who were also incarcerated in the same prison over the same case. “Investigations have revealed that he had knowledge of the attacks. However, I will not disclose further details at this point as inquiries are ongoing,” Minister Wijepala said.
In another startling disclosure, the Minister revealed that the Taj Samudra Hotel had sent an urgent email alert to the State Intelligence Service (SIS) on April 20, 2019, after bomber Abdul Latheef Mohamed Jameel checked in—a day before the coordinated attacks. Despite the alert and the fact that Jameel was already on a security watch list, the SIS failed to act, he said.
Jameel, who was assigned to bomb the Taj, abandoned his mission and later died in a separate blast at the Tropical Inn in Dehiwala after his initial plan failed.
Minister Wijepala also confirmed that Pillayan is currently in detention over several other serious charges, including the abduction of a university professor, murder of police officers, and illegal weapons possession.
He added that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is currently reviewing the comprehensive 67,000-page report on the Easter Sunday attacks.
The adjournment debate on the Easter Sunday bombings was initiated today by ITAK MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, renewing focus on accountability and unanswered questions surrounding the worst terror attack in post-war Sri Lanka.
