COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police did not find enough evidence against the Islamic State (IS) militants who claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 250 people. The attacks were carried out by local groups who drew inspiration from, but were not directly linked to the IS, a Sri Lankan investigator said.
Ravi Seneviratne, head of the Sri Lankan police Criminal Investigation Department (CID), made the remarks in a meeting with the country's parliamentary panel investigating the security and intelligence lapses that led to the April 21 bombings. "They followed the IS ideology, but our investigations have not shown any link between them," Seneviratne told the panel.
He noted that remnants of the National Thowheeth Jamath (NTJ), the armed group that was held responsible for the attacks, had persuaded IS to claim the attack two days after the deadly events in Sri Lanka. Earlier, in a statement, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena alleged the attacks "were the work of international drug dealers" to disrupt his anti-narcotics drive. However, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe refuted the president's claims. "Police completed the investigations within about two weeks," an officials said. "There is no mention of drug dealers being involved. We have no reason to doubt our investigators."
