Sunday Times 2
Easter Sunday attacks: Sarah Pulasthini is dead
View(s):By Rear Admiral (Dr) Sarath Weerasekera VSV RWP USP
The Sunday Times columnist Javid Yusuf’s article last week says that the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks are not yet completed and essential mysteries remain unsolved amid questions about the true masterminds. Six years on, he says, marred by political interference, the investigations have been deliberately left to fade away.
The writer also states that the deeper conspiracy behind the attacks remained unanswered and had created serious doubt and consequent frustration, anger, agony, and hatred in the minds of the victims and their dear ones who are still suffering.
I would like to point out that according to police records, 745 suspects have been arrested, 59 detained under PTA section 11(1), and 639 released on bail, and 24 main suspects, including the mastermind linked to NTJ, are still in remand prison and have been served indictments in High Court with 23,270 charges. These figures negate the claim that the public faith in justice is slowly eroding.
The aftermath of the terror attack on the Katuwapitiya church
The article also implies that there are other masterminds yet to be arrested, claiming that the true masterminds remain at large. It further claims that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa removed CID Director Shani Abesekera and that his removal effectively derailed the continuity of the inquiry.
Shani has been the director of CID since 2015, and Sri Lanka’s intelligence community had issued 337 reports from 2015 to April 2019, warning the then government of the impending threat. These reports from the State Intelligence Service, Military Intelligence, Police Special Branch, National Intelligence, and Tri-Service Intelligence Units had categorically warned about ISIS, Zahran Hashim and Muslim radicalisation. In fact, there was a strong recommendation from the Intelligence to arrest Zahran to prevent future possible attacks, but no action was taken.
The attacks were carried out on April 21, 2019. Six days later another group of 17, including Sarah Pulasthini, who was the wife of the Katuwapitiya Church bomber, and Zahran’s brother Rilwan were killed in the suicide bomb explosion in a safe house in Sainthamaruthu. Zahran’s wife, Hadiya, survived. The wives of these killers had already been identified by the time of the attack, and an efficient investigating outfit could have easily arrested them before they travelled all the way to Sainthamaruthu and committed suicide.
The unfinished inquiry referred to in the article could have been easily completed if those arrests had taken place at the correct time by the CID. Shani was still the CID Director after the attack, with all the powers to investigate, and continued in the post for another eight months before his transfer took place. Hence, the argument that Shani’s removal derailed the continuity of inquiry does not carry any weight.
Referring to Sarah’s whereabouts, the article says, “Ask Anandan,” the man who helped Ganemulla Sanjeewa murder case suspect Ishara Sewwandi to escape. It implies that, like Sewwandi, Sarah also escaped and is alive.
The article also questions why the police had to repeat the DNA test for a third time to confirm that Sarah was also killed during the explosion. It also refers to the arrest of Kalawanchikudi police Chief Inspector Abu Bakr for allegedly assisting Pulasthini to escape and claims that after a few statements and denials, the investigation into Sarah’s disappearance has gone silent.
The article opines that Sarah’s importance lies in her proximity to the inner circle of the attackers, and her testimony, if ever obtained, could help answer the critical questions that remain unresolved.
But it should be pointed out that Zahran’s wife, Hadiya, is still alive and is a much more important witness than Sarah. Hadiya has provided substantial evidence in the investigation.
The only person who survived the Sainthamaruthu blast was Hadiya, because she ran into the adjacent room whilst the suicide group was praying just before the explosion. Hadiya says she had witnessed Sarah wearing a suicide belt given by Zahran’s brother, Rilwan. She also says that Sarah invited her to join them immediately to go to heaven. One doesn’t have to be an explosive expert to decide whether a person could survive after exploding his/her suicide jacket.
As the bodies of all who remained in the house were dismembered, the biopsy samples were sent for the DNA test to the Government Analyst on April 29 after obtaining court approval. As three of the biopsy samples had expired, again another set of samples was sent for the second DNA test. The results of the second DNA test came three months later, but the results could not confirm everyone who was supposed to be in the house. This has led to suspicion that those who were behind the attack had helped Sarah to escape.
It was the magistrate, not the police, as mentioned in the article, who called for a third DNA test. The body parts were exhumed in the presence of the JMO, the magistrate, members of SOCO, the police, and even the relatives of the deceased. They were then sealed and dispatched to the Government Analyst (GA) under heavy guard.
During the third DNA test, one sample matched that of Sarah’s mother and her child. Accordingly, the GA confirmed that Sarah was killed in the explosion. Any challenge to this finding must be backed by facts, not by gossip and rumours.
A witness claimed that he saw Chief Inspector Abu Bakr and another constable helping Sarah to escape in a vehicle. Abu Bakr was arrested, but investigations showed that the constable was in another station at that time and the said vehicle was in a garage for repairs. Hence, it was proved that the witness had given false evidence, and Abu Bakr was released after two years in prison.
The FBI report
Amongst the 269 killed in the Easter Sunday attack, there were five US nationals. An FBI team immediately arrived in Sri Lanka. The team consisted of highly trained counterterrorism investigators, intelligence analysts, experts of detainee interrogators, bomb technicians, digital data analysts, etc. This team, headed by Raj Patel, was assisted by Interpol and intelligence offices of other countries whose citizens were killed in the attacks.
Their findings were based on an exhaustive collection of evidence obtained by our CID, the FBI, the Australian Federal Police, Interpol and other relevant intelligence agencies. Based on such evidence, both Sri Lankan and foreign investigators clearly stated that the Easter Sunday attack was carried out by ISIS’
Sri Lankan group headed by Zahran Hashim. ISIS posted a video of Zahran swearing allegiance to its leader, Abu Bakr Baghdadi, and saying that this attack was in retaliation for the killing of Muslim devotees in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, by a Christian man.
After two years of investigation by the FBI, the US District Court in Los Angeles filed criminal charges on Mohomad Naufer, Mohomad Riskin and Ahmad Milhan Hayathu (who are in Sri Lankan remand prison) for aiding and abetting the attack. The US court has identified Mohomad Naufer as the second emir of the Sri Lankan ISIS group.
The FBI investigation on the Easter Sunday attack is considered as one of the most complex and high-pressure extraterritorial investigations ever undertaken by the FBI. The FBI team headed by Raj Patel received the prestigious award for the “most outstanding international investigation”.
Raj Patel, in an interview with Jerri Williams, a retired FBI agent, clearly rejected any conspiracy theories and confirmed the attack was carried out by the Sri Lankan ISIS group headed by Zahran.
Professor Rohan Gunarathna, in one of his articles, has quoted FBI Special Agent Merilii R. Goodwin as saying, “This attack was carried out by ISIS in Sri Lanka. They targeted citizens of the coalition of states and the Christians in Sri Lanka. Zahran Hassim, the self-proclaimed leader of ISIS SL, was the mastermind behind the attack.”
Hence, according to the FBI, the mastermind behind the attack was Zahran, while the second mastermind is Naufer. Zahran is dead, and Naufer is in jail. If this is the conclusion of the FBI and other international investigators, one cannot cast doubt on the investigations or question who the masterminds are.
The truth is that Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday massacre was carried out by Muslim fanatics. It is high time that both the government and the public recognised the ongoing Muslim radicalisation and addressed it before the next attack.
(The writer is a former minister of public security)