The hole where militants behind the Easter Sunday bombings had hidden their cache of explosives lies open in the earth of a coconut plantation. It was on these 30 hectares of farmland that Sri Lankan detectives found more than 100 kilograms of explosives
The hole where militants behind the Easter Sunday bombings had hidden their cache of explosives and bomb-making materials lies open in the earth of a coconut plantation.
Four months later, with 253 people dead in last week's bombings, the Sri Lankan government is reeling from accusations that they could have been prevented.The government faces criticism that it not only failed to spot the threat from the NTJ in January, but then did not act on detailed warnings given by Indian intelligence chiefs in the weeks before the blasts.
Military sources said the raided home had been under surveillance since the Sunday attacks, but was not previously known about. On Saturday, authorities said they has also arrested a man found with 51 water gel explosives sticks and 215 detonators. Another man was detained on a tuk tuk with a kilogram of C4 explosives near the Wellawatta railway station in central Colombo, heightening fears of a second wave of attacks.
He is said to have told neighbours not to visit the farmland when the new tenants arrived and village boys who used to steal coconuts stopped amid rumours the plantation was now booby-trapped. Image from Islamic State that purports to show Zahran Hashim, centre, who Sri Lanka says led the Easter Sunday attacks.During the inquiry, the NIA had stumbled upon Hashmi's videos asking young people from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, as well as Sri Lanka, to work towards establishing an Islamic caliphate in the region.
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