Festival
spirits quenched
 The gory scenes depicting mutilated bodies of innocent people strewn
on the road after a suicide bomber exploded a bomb near the Kanthi play
ground Weliveriya killing the Minister of Highways and Road Development
Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and fifteen others including the veteran olympic
marathon runner K.A. Karunaratne and National Athletic coach Lakshman de
Alwis evoked memories of similar attacks carried out in the past three
decades by the LTTE.
Among those who died and got critically injured were several well
known athletes and scores of people numbering to more than eighty. The
violence unleashed by the LTTE however has not ebbed although there were
peace accords with successive governments in the past.
 It was appalling to note the suicide killer had carried out the
attack at a sporting event where several young marathon runners had
participated along with an enthusiastic crowd that gathered that
morning. Even Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa was reported as
saying it was the second attack unleashed by terrorists after the
massacre of several athletes at the Munich Olympic games in 1972.
According to police sources the suicide bomber would have been
briefed beforehand about the Minister’s schedule and plotted the
assassination well in advance.
The matter was now being investigated by the sleuths of the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID). Several teams headed by Senior
Superintendents of Police are busy extrapolating data on the killing.
The police however are tight lipped not to reveal anything to the media
on the current investigation as they believe it could jeopardise the
probe.
However it is of paramount importance to identify the suicide cadre
in the first instance. A national identity card believed to be of the
suspected suicide cadre was found on the location where the blast
occurred. According to Police however the NIC was a fake one. No person
by that name had been traced in the address found on the NIC.
It may be that the suicide cadre posing off as an official or as a
security officer penetrated the security cordon without being noticed by
any one. Even if anyone saw a person approaching the minister about to
flag the marathon it wouldn’t have registered in their minds as a
possible terrorist. The focus would have been on the marathon about to
start. The suicide cadre would have mingled along with others
surrounding the minister.
This clearly shows a security lapse where a suicide cadre had
penetrated the ministerial security. However it is not clear how many
security men were detailed to protect the minister who was a high
profile target. It is also not clear whether a security assessment was
done prior to his visit at the Kanthi stadium Weliweriya.
Reports suggest of an unidentified person who was in close proximity
to the minister using a Cellular phone to communicate with some one. The
person had left the venue prior to the bomb blast.
The sleuths should probe this to unmask the mysterious person and to
decode his message. According to Senior Police Spokesman DIG A.K.
Illangakoon the Ministry of Defence have appointed a committee to probe
into security lapses of the security provided to the minister.
Meanwhile some bodies found at the scene of the carnage have still
not been identified. Fifteen persons perished in the powerful explosion
and more than 80 persons including the Senior Supdt. of Police of the
Gampaha Division sustained serious injury. Among those who perished were
Colonel P.S.S. Udayadeera an officer attached to the army volunteer
force. He was a decorated soldier with several service awards. The other
victim was a Chief Inspector of the Special Task Force.
The marathon which was scheduled to start around 6.30 a.m did not
commence owing to athletes not being present near the Kanthi stadium.
The minister who visited the venue around 6.30 am had gone away after
realising the situation, to a near by temple. He then arrived at around
7.30 am to flag the marathon.
It is strange the organisers did not communicate this to the
minister. Well informed sources said the minister was briefed both by
army and police intelligence about the threat to his life.
It may be recalled that the Minister of Nation Building D.M.
Dassanayake was assassinated in a claymore mine explosion at Tudella in
the Ja-ela area a few months ago.
It was subsequently learnt the claymore mine was aimed at Minister
Jeyaragh Fernandopulle motorcade while he was on its way to attend the
inaugural session of the parliament for 2008.
However minister Fernandopulle was briefed before hand by
intelligence services about the threat to his life on that day. |
