Govt. sees conspiracy behind grenade found in Church

Minister of Law and Order Sarath Weerasekera yesterday said that the recent detection of a hand grenade at All Saints Church, on Ananda Rajakaruna Mawatha, Borella, and a similar detection at Lanka Hospital were masterminded by a single person to undermine the government and the Police.

Speaking to the media in Colombo, the Minister also rejected the allegations made by the Catholic Church that the Police was attempting to create a false narrative about the incident.

“After we received the complaint, the Police started the investigation. The Police discovered that the same person who had informed the priest about the grenade was the one who planted it through a child. The Police arrested four people and a 13-year-old child, living at a nearby house, told the magistrate that one of the four men had got him to move the bomb. The suspect also admitted this. Police also found evidence in the suspect’s room.

if someone says that these information is false, this is bad. When people issue statements undermining the police, people lose faith in police,” the Minister said.

The Minister said that they are also looking for a man with a limp in connection with the incident. On Thursday, the Church released footage of a man with a limp who was behaving suspiciously in the All Saints Church and claimed that instead of trying to ascertain the truth the police had detained a person working in the church.

“If the fathers have information relevant to the case, the church must inform the police. This is their responsibility. When revelations are made to media, in the middle of the investigation, those involved can hide and become harder to find. Also when you start suspecting the Police from the start, things can go wrong,” Minister Weerasekera said.

The Minister said that they will find the mastermind behind this incident and a detection of the grenade at the Lanka hospital.

“It has only been two days. We usually tell people involved in a case not to release CCTV footage to media. What if suspects hide and harder to find? Who is responsible then? This helps the suspects. However we have arrested the main suspect and, through him we will find others,” Minister Weerasekera said.

On Thursday, Archbishop of Colombo Rt. Rev. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith asked whether the recent detection of ahand grenade at All Saints Church, on Ananda Rajakaruna Mawatha, Borella was part of a conspiracy. The Cardinal questioned the failure on the part of the police to ascertain the identity of an unidentified person whoentered the Church at 9.52 am on Tuesday (11).

The Church released the video footage of a man carrying a shopping bag entering the premises. He was also captured on camera taking something out of his pocket and leaving it behind a statue. Addressing the media in Colombo, the Catholic leader alleged that the police had checked the video footage; he emphasised the need to establish the identity of the person who limped and was not a Catholic. The Cardinal said that the unidentified person had not prayed and walked away when questioned by someone. The church also released the video footage of the man leaving the church.