Easter Sunday carnage probe:

by AJA Abeynayake

Colombo Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith on Saturday said that now it had been revealed that a political appointee to the CID had destroyed evidence pertaining to the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage investigations.

Expressing his hope that the current government would fulfill its promise to deliver justice for the victims of the Easter bombings, Cardinal Ranjith said that the victims were still waiting for justice, which, he said, had not been served by previous leaders.

Cardinal Ranjith highlighted that during the previous presidential election, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had pledged to conduct a thorough investigation into the bombings and take legal action against all individuals who were directly or indirectly involved in the attacks.

The Cardinal said that the new government should be given time to complete its investigations.

Referring to the perpetrators of the bombings, including Zahran Hashim, the Cardinal emphasized that there were influential groups behind the attacks, not just a small group of extremists. He said that the CID had removed 21 officers involved in the investigation and destroyed evidence due to political interference.

The Cardinal said that the expectation of the people, especially the families of the victims was for the current government to fulfil its promise of justice, a responsibility that had been neglected by previous administrations.