News

Cardinal ignored Easter attack warning: Gnanasara alleges

Published

3 weeks ago

February 28, 2025

editor

Days after being released from jail, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara set the stage for another controversy when he said that he informed Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith about the Easter Sunday attacks well in advance but it fell on deaf ears.

Delivering remarks to the media, Gnanasara said that the government intelligence services and officials concerned had prior knowledge of the attack.

“We approached the Cardinal even before the attack and had lengthy discussions with him, warning him of the possible threat. However, he disregarded our warnings,” he alleged.

“As the General Secretary of the BBS, we had the authority to inform the relevant personnel about the attack, but we did not have the authority to control the country’s security forces. We received a lot of secret information that even intelligence services could not access,” Gnanasara said.

“I had been warning about the attack since 2014. I sent 17 letters to the respective government leaders at the time. I also raised concerns about the emergence of several other extremist groups in the country,” he said.

“We had revealed extensive information about ongoing religious extremist groups through the Presidential Task Force on ‘One Country-One Law,’ formed under the government of Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa. We gathered all this information independently, without any help from the government. We did it in the interests of protecting the country’s ethnic integrity,” he said.

“Finally, we handed over the report, but unfortunately, no action was taken,” Gnanasara added.

He said he is prepared to cooperate with an investigation initiated by the current government by sharing the information he had.

(dailymirror.lk)

(This story, originally published by dailymirror.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

News

Boossa Prison jailor remanded over ‘Ganemulla Sanjeewa’ murder

Published

2 hours ago

March 17, 2025

editor

A Jailor at the Boossa Prison, who had brought underworld figure Sanjeewa Kumara Samararathne also known as “Ganemulla Sanjeewa” to court on the day he was killed inside the Hulftsdorp court premises, has been arrested by the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD).

Subsequently, he has been ordered to be remanded until March 21, after being produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court, Ada Derana reporter said.

Presenting the suspect to the court, the Colombo Crimes Division officials have stated that the murdered suspect, “Ganemulla Sanjeewa”, had been brought to court by the arrested Jailer on the day of the assassination.

Police informed the court that investigations are underway to determine whether the crime was committed due to the Jailor’s dereliction of duty.

Police also pointed out to the court that investigations have revealed that the suspected prison officer had not taken any steps to arrest the individual who shot at “Ganemulla Sanjeewa” within the court premises and fled.

During the trial, police also requested permission to obtain a record of the suspect’s mobile phone calls for further investigations.

The court granted permission for the requests and ordered the suspect to be remanded until March 21.

(adaderana.lk)

(This story, originally published by adaderana.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)