An army explosives expert was arrested on Friday night for alleged involvement in the Kurunegala school van explosion which left one school girl dead and 11 injured, police said yesterday.
They said initial investigations indicated that the army sergeant had smuggled two kilos of C-4 explosives out of the Minneriya camp and planted them on the van around midnight in an apparent bid to kill the owner-driver, whom he suspected of having an illicit affair with his wife.
It is alleged that the sergeant had sneaked out of the camp with the C-4 explosives, planted them on the van and got back to the camp where he was arrested on Friday night. He had allegedly fixed the bomb under the vehicle and set it to go off when the owner-driver started it as usual in the morning.
Usually, the children got in on the way. But on Friday, tragically, the children came to the place where the van was parked and got into it, because of the heavy rain. Thus a 12-year-old schoolgirl who sat on the front seat was killed and several other children were wounded when the bomb exploded.
Police detectives said the army sergeant had been provided with the explosives for a passing out parade drill held on the previous day. |
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