Following the attack, the security forces searched Ratmalana, Mount Lavinia, Dehiwela and the Tamil-dominated Colombo suburbs of Wellawatte and Kotahena. Over 50 Tamils were taken into custody. The police arrested four Tiger suspects from a house in Wattala, north of Colombo, where suicide bomber M Maryqueens is said to have lived. Reports say a police Sub-Inspector, suspected of links with Jeevendra, has also been detained.
The LTTE seems to have resumed attacks on high profile targets. A large number of bomb attacks had been carried out in southern Sri Lanka in the last one year, but these were mainly aimed at disrupting electricity supply and telecommunication. A bomb exploded inside a bus at Colombo’s central bus stand in Pettah on the night of 9 March, killing a passenger and wounding 15 others. Over 100 people were arrested in Pettah following the incident.
Another bomb badly damaged a train in Dematagoda suburb railyard on the same night. An electricity transformer in Pettah was also blasted with a bomb. A week earlier, a bomb ripped through a train passing Narahenpita railway station. The Police say a new unit of Tigers from the Mannar area has entered Colombo, seeking high profile targets.
The police allege that the directives by the Committee of Inquiry into Undue Arrest and Detention (CIUAD) which came in to effect on 1 January have helped LTTE infiltration into Colombo. The CIUAD, headed by Culture minister Lakshman Jayakody, was set up in July 1998 following complaints of security force harassment of the Tamil community, to ensure humane treatment of people during arrest and detention. The work of the CIUAD is also expected to reduce the number of fundamental rights applications relating to arrest and detention to the Supreme Court.
The January CIUAD directives said, among others, that permanent residents of Colombo need not register with the police but all visitors over the age of 10 must register. Visitors need not go to the police station for registration. It would suffice if the chief occupant of the house submits the relevant forms to the police along with the visitor’s photograph. Police were also directed to allow visitors to stay any number of days in Colombo without demanding the reasons.
MP and CIUAD member, MM Zuhair says that the anti-harassment body has acted within the law and denies that its directives have hampered police investigations or helped LTTE infiltration into southern areas.