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.