On April 16, 2025 the Oblate Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) issued a fresh call for a comprehensive re-investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. Representing the Oblate Centre, journalist and human rights advocate Tharindu Jayawardhana said that despite the passage of six years, critical questions about the attacks remain unanswered, questions that go beyond surface-level accountability and strike at the heart of Sri Lanka’s troubled relationship with truth, governance, and justice.
His call, backed by a detailed dossier of concerns, focuses on why previous investigations carried out by the Maithripala Sirisena, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Ranil Wickremesinghe administrations failed to deliver justice. The National People’s Power (NPP) Government, which came to power promising transparency and accountability, has said that it is reviewing existing findings and following new leads. Yet for many Sri Lankans, this is not just about political promises, it is about reckoning with a national trauma and rebuilding public trust.
Abdul Latheef Mohamed Jameel: The mystery bomber
Among the most pressing concerns raised by CSR is the case of Abdul Latheef Mohamed Jameel. Jameel, reportedly tasked with bombing the Taj Samudra hotel in Colombo, failed to detonate his device and was later killed when the bomb exploded at the Tropical Inn in Dehiwala. Despite the failed attack, Jameel’s role in the larger plot, and intelligence lapses surrounding him, present some of the most alarming holes in the state’s narrative.
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) confirmed that Jameel had been under surveillance by Sri Lankan intelligence agencies as early as 2015. Yet even with three entities, the State Intelligence Service (SIS), the Directorate of Military Intelligence, and the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), monitoring him, no preventive action was taken.
“Further troubling is the failure to act on routine alerts. Hotel security protocols at the Taj Samudra required a list of checked-in guests to be submitted to both the SIS and the Presidential Security Division by midnight. Jameel checked in on April 20, 2019. If his name was on that list, and authorities were already watching him, why was no action taken?” Jayawardhana said.
Other red flags include the omission of Jameel’s National Identity Card (NIC) number from hotel records, despite it being mandatory. “Was this omission an error, deliberate manipulation, or external interference? And if it was initially entered and then removed, who had the access to do so?” he said.
Jameel also received phone calls just minutes before leaving the Taj Samudra on the morning of the attacks. CCTV footage logged two calls between 8.51 and 8.54 am. Yet the origin of those calls remains unknown. His sudden detour to a mosque in Dehiwala, where he was seen waiting for an unidentified person, raises further suspicion, Jayawardhana said. A voice message he sent to his wife, claiming he was going on “Hijra,” featured the background voices of children, leading investigators to question whether the message was genuinely from Jameel or a pre-recorded clip sent by another individual.
Moreover, CCTV footage from April 19 to 21, crucial hours before the attack, was mysteriously deleted from the DVR that had captured Jameel leaving his residence. While earlier footage was intact, only the window from 8.00 am on April 19, to 2.30 pm on April 21 was erased. Investigators have yet to determine who removed the footage and why, Jayawardhana said.
Even Jameel’s movements between the Taj Samudra, Panadura, and Dehiwala, where he was reportedly seen with two unidentified individuals, remain unexplained. His possession (and later absence) of a mobile phone at the mosque also raises questions, especially since he had been seen with a phone earlier in the day, he said.
“CCTV footage showed Jameel using his mobile phone inside the mosque. But when a security guard at the mosque, who questioned him a few hours later due to Jameel’s suspicious behaviour, Jameel had no phone with him. Investigators have also not found the phone yet. Jameel told the security guard that he had come to the mosque after fighting with his wife. When the security guard called his wife, using his own phone as Jameel said he didn’t have one, the wife corroborated Jameel’s story – although she had received his message that he has gone for Hijra,” he said.
Soon after this call was made, a caller identifying himself as a member of the intelligence community spoke to the security guard at the mosque and instructed him to meet them at Havelock Town. “When the security guard went to the location, those who asked him to come did not turn up. The scared security guard lodged a complaint with the Wellawatte Police. We must also not forget that the security firm of a former intelligence officer was in charge of security at the mosque Jameel went to in Dehiwala. Why did Jameel go to this particular mosque when there were so many mosques from Taj to Dehiwala?” Jayawardhana asked.
Abu Hind: the unknown coordinator?
Another major thread concerns a shadowy figure known only as “Abu Hind.” The name first surfaced in testimony by National Intelligence Chief Nilantha Jayawardena, who told the PCoI that Abu Hind may have played a pivotal role in planning the attacks. Notably, Abu Hind had been in contact with Zaharan Hashim, the ringleader of the suicide bombings, as well as with others including Rilwan and Naufer Maulavi.
During Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Presidency, Government MPs dismissed Abu Hind as a codename used by a foreign intelligence agency.
However, evidence before the PCoI suggested that he was either a central actor or at the very least, a key witness.
Despite this, his true identity has never been confirmed, and no credible investigation has sought to determine under whose command he operated.
This omission has left many Sri Lankans wondering whether key figures in the plot are still at large, or protected.
Mystery of Sara Jasmine and the Sainthamaruthu blast
Another unresolved incident took place in Sainthamaruthu, Kalmunai, on April 26, 2019, five days after the bombings. A powerful explosion in a safe-house believed to be linked to Zaharan’s network killed several people. But the exact death toll and the identities of the dead have been mired in confusion and potential cover-ups, Jayawardhana said.
Initially, Kalmunai Police reported that 16 people had died. But two days later, Ampara Police said the number was 17, despite no additional bodies being discovered and no change in post-mortem records. This discrepancy has fuelled suspicions that authorities attempted to falsely include Pulastini Mahendran, alias Sara Jasmine, among the dead.
Zaharan’s wife Fatima Hadhiya, who survived the explosion, later told Police that Sara Jasmine had been present at the house during the blast. But the testimony only surfaced days after Police said she had died. No conclusive DNA evidence has ever confirmed Sara’s death. Nevertheless, Ampara Police told court she had perished. Jayawardhana said that the CID has found a SIM card that was registered under Sara’s NIC in 2020, a full year after the attacks. However, the CID dropped investigations into this revelation.
To make matters worse, Sara’s identity card was handed over to the CID by an officer in Ampara several days after the blast, despite it not being listed in initial evidence.
This raised fears that evidence was manipulated to declare her dead and close the file.
Additional witness accounts, including from Hadhiya, indicated that a woman matching Sarah’s appearance and voice spoke to her at the scene. Others reported seeing someone flee the house on a motorbike.
CCTV footage reportedly captured this escape.
If these accounts are accurate, then Sarah may have survived and fled, or been aided in doing so. Still, no comprehensive investigation has been conducted.
“There are several reasons to believe that Sara didn’t die at the Sainthamaruthu safehouse. However, there is a concerted effort by investigators to convince the public that Sara was killed at the safe-house,” he said.
Channel 4 revelations and Asath Maulana’s allegations
In 2023, UK-based Channel 4 aired a documentary on Easter Sunday attacks with allegations by former MP Hanzeer Asath Maulana, claiming that senior Sri Lankan intelligence figures had prior knowledge of the attacks and may have facilitated aspects of the operation. The allegations caused a stir, prompting President Wickremesinghe to appoint a committee to probe them.
“Maulana alleged that on April 21, 2019, the day of the attack, he was contacted by then Military Intelligence Director Suresh Sallay, who instructed him to transport Abdul Latheef Jameel. Maulana owns a house near the mosque Jameel went to after leaving Taj Samudra and there are suspicions that Jameel was waiting for Maulana,” he said,
Maulana also said that both he and a doctor who had treated Zaharan’s brother Rilwan in 2018, after an attempt to produce a bomb went wrong, lived in the same village.
The committee report, released by former MP Udaya Gammanpila, noted possible connections between Maulana and Zaharan’s group. But again, no formal prosecution or comprehensive investigation followed. The doctor’s mobile phone, seized in September 2019, reportedly contained key evidence, but there has been no transparency about what was recovered.
Failure to act on warnings
Perhaps the most haunting aspect of the Easter Sunday attacks was the fact that they could have been prevented. On the evening of April 20, 2019, intelligence officials received credible warnings that Christian places of worship would be targeted the following morning. Deputy Inspector General of Police Lalith Pathinayake relayed the warning to SSP Nishantha Soysa of Colombo South and instructed increased security and mobile patrols.
“Soysa is a close associate of IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon,” Jayawardhana said.
Yet despite the Archbishop’s residence being located within that jurisdiction, the Archbishop’s office was never informed. Churches, left unguarded, were turned into scenes of unspeakable horror the next morning.
This failure has never been fully explained, and no one has been held accountable.
The Governments that failed to deliver truth
For many Sri Lankans, three successive Governments, led by Maithripala Sirisena, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Ranil Wickremesinghe, have offered more confusion than clarity. Sirisena, who was President at the time of the attacks, was found by the PCoI to have acted negligently in failing to prevent them.
Yet his political comeback in recent years has alarmed victims’ families and rights groups alike.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration, elected on a platform of national security, promised swift justice. Instead, critics say, it diverted attention away from lingering questions and ignored leads that implicated powerful figures.
During Ranil Wickremesinghe’s brief presidency prior to the NPP’s rise, the Channel 4 revelations again put the spotlight on state complicity, but investigations stagnated.
A new beginning under NPP?
The National People’s Power (NPP) Government has promised a break from the past. In a recent statement, officials said that they are building on previous investigations while following new leads to finally reveal the truth.
Sources close to the Justice Ministry say a special task force is being assembled to re-examine critical gaps, especially those concerning intelligence lapses and unexplored suspects.
But scepticism remains. The failure to convict anyone beyond the suicide bombers and a few low-level operatives has made many Sri Lankans lose faith in official investigations.
The wounds of Easter Sunday, which claimed 269 lives and injured over 500, are far from healed.
For the victims’ families, justice remains elusive. For the public, trust in the system is at stake.
