Two accused charged with the 2008 LTTE suicide bomb attack that targeted former President Maithripala Sirisena when he was Agriculture Minister have been in remand custody for nearly 16 years, it was revealed this week at the Colombo High Court.

When the trial began on Wednesday, lawyers for the two accused, Selvarajah Kirubakaran, alias “Morris”, and Thambiayah Prakash, alias “Danush”, requested the court to release their clients on bail. State Counsel Dhammika Udawatte, leading the prosecution, opposed granting bail to the accused, and Colombo High Court Judge R.S.S. Sapuvida rejected the request to grant bail after accepting the objection raised by the prosecution.

While the defence had requested the accused to be released on bail under any condition, Mr. Udawatte said that given the trial against the accused has now begun, it would be an impediment to the case if the accused were to be released on bail now.

Four of Mr. Sirisena’s security officers were killed in the attack at Boralesgamuwa on October 9, 2008.

The two LTTE members have been indicted on 17 charges, including aiding and abetting the suicide bomber, identified as Sammugarasa Gajavalini, to launch an attack on Mr. Sirisena with the aim of assassinating him.

Giving evidence on Wednesday, former President Sirisena told court that he was terribly shaken by the incident and suffered from severe stress for about two weeks afterwards. Mr. Sirisena added that no police officer recorded his statement about the incident.

Recounting the attack, the former President said his driver had driven away at speed after noticing a woman, who was listening to someone on a mobile phone, walking rapidly towards their vehicle. The bomber could not intercept his vehicle due to the quick actions of the driver, and she ended up striking Mr. Sirisena’s backup vehicle that was behind him, setting off her explosives, the former President said.

Though the incident happened in 2008, it was only on December 18, 2023, that indictments were filed against the accused, with indictments being served against them in 2024, and the trial beginning this week. Further hearing into the case was put off till September 1

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

The investigations into the ragging incident at the Sabaragamuwa University have been handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

 Some students of the Faculty of Technology at the University of Sabaragamuwa had lodged a complaint with the Samanalawewa police station on April 29, 2025 over a ragging incident.

Accordingly, the police recorded statements from 20 students who were subjected to ragging yesterday.

Further investigations into the complaint were handed over to the CID today following the instructions of the Acting IGP, Police said.

There is a weakness in the initial agreement we made with Starlink, as it does not grant us access to its data systems in the event of a national security issue, unlike the arrangements we have with existing telecom providers in Sri Lanka, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said.

He made these remarks while participating in a television programme last night.

He explained that the government was able to uncover several security threats—such as the Arugam Bay incident and the recent court shooting—because it has access to local telecommunications systems, under legal permissions granted to existing providers.

However, he pointed out that the government does not have access to Starlink’s data systems, as such provisions were not included in the initial agreement.

“This poses a direct threat to national security. There isn’t even a designated person to take responsibility, and we have no legal grounds to access the system,” he said.

He added that the government had raised this concern with Starlink, and in response, the company has agreed to provide a dashboard to access certain data.

“But we still don’t clearly understand the extent of access this dashboard will provide,” he said.

As a precaution, the government has allowed the release of equipment necessary to build the dashboard.

“Once it is operational, we will be able to assess how much access to data we actually have,” he concluded.

(dailymirror.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by dailymirror.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)