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| Sunday, 19 December 2004 |
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Was grenade hurled at Shah Rukh Khan or at VIPs? Crime Sunday by Jaympathy Jayasinghe It was a miracle how the famed Indian artist Shah Rukh Khan and his entourage escaped death when a maniac disrupted the proceeding of the 'Temptation 2004' musical show by lobbing a live hand grenade which fell between the stage and the front row seats, killing two persons instant and maiming eleven other spectators. The injured were rushed to the National Hospital following the attack. Of the eleven persons four are said to be still in critical condition, according to hospital sources. According to Police an unidentified person had lobbed the live grenade around 11.20 p.m. on Saturday night when no one anticipated a deadly attack on that night. According to some, the lethal grenade was hurled by some one who was right behind. However no one can say precisely that the grenade was hurled at Shah Rukh Khan and his musical group or at some VIPs seated next to the stage. It reminds us of the deadly grenade attack in the Parliament which took place almost 20 years ago when an employee flung a live grenade at the then President and the Prime Minister. Although both of them escaped miraculously with slight injuries a District Minister died in that attack and several other Cabinet ministers were seriously wounded. Last week's grenade attack at the Race Course bear the hallmarks of the parliamentary attack when a grenade was lobbed at a galaxy of performing Indian artists. The grenade that fell between the stage and the VIP seats killed a freelance photographer and a woman receptionist of a five star hotel in Colombo. Some say Shah Rukh Khan and his entourage escaped the calamity because of the photographer who stood in the way of the grenade that banged aginst his body. The Colombo Crime Division (CCD) SSP Sarath Lugoda and his team of officers have been assigned the task finding the killer. DIG, Colombo Sirisena Herath had ordered five teams of CCD officers to track down the suspects involved in the attack. Meanwhile IGP, Chandra Fernando had detailed a team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sleuths to probe the on-going investigations and would probe whether the attack was linked to any political conspiracy. Already several persons have been questioned in this connection. SSP Lugoda said that around 50 persons have been questioned in this connection and their statements have been recorded. Although no one was arrested so far several clues found at the scene of the crime is being investigated. Video coverage of the event and cellular mobile phone conversations of those present during the event is being investigated by the police to find possible clues. Meanwhile the police have found the pin of the grenade and its handle thrown on the ground where people stood at the back row. "We are trying to figure out whether a spectator who stood in the rear lobbed the grenade. We still cannot say whether it was aimed at a VIP seated on the front seat or at Shah Rukh Khan himself, police said. Meanwhile the Police have forwarded the pin of the grenade to the Government Analysts Department and is awaiting for a report. So far the type of grenade used in the attack is not known. When the type of the grenade is known, the Police will be able to investigate from where it came and whether similar types are used by armed services. That will shed light on the investigations. Many say that the attack was a pre-planned and a well designed affair to destabilise the relationship between India and Sri Lanka, to drive a wedge between the countries. The organisers of the event have to be blamed squarely for this state of affairs. They failed in their duty to foresee or predict an attack of this type while hosting a mega event despite protest by Buddhist clergy. Unfortunately the day coincided with the first year death commemoration of Ven. Gangodawila Soma Thera.Many say that security was lax despite a large crowd of about 25,000-30,000 persons being present at the mega musical show. In fact very few people were searched and one could have smuggled a live hand grenade into the musical show. The big question is why weren't the people searched by the security personnel who undertook to provide absolute security cover for the VIPs. It was reported that several fans from South Africa and Asia had attended the mega musical show. Whatever the explanation given by the organisers won't be justified at this stage as two people had lost their lives and eleven had sustained injuries. The police too have to be blamed for not providing adequate security by detailing more officers at the site. Several officers of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) too were seriously injured in the attack. Security arrangement at the venue have been woefully inadequate and many will have to share the blame. According to some spectators the grenade was lobbed from the mid row section. It now seems that the grenade was aimed at the mega star Shah Rukh Khan and his group of singers with a view to cause mayhem in the country. Ramifications would have been far greater if Shah Rukh Khan died in that attack. The race course was a sea of heads that day and only few persons seated in the front row realised what happened. Those who were seated in the back row thought that it was a firecracker. A spectator who was seated in the middle row said that she did not realise that a grenade attack had taken place. She thought that the show was over when people began to walk away. |
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