Sri Lanka’s ex-president Sirisena quizzed by police over controversial remark on Easter bombings

Sri Lanka's former president Maithripala Sirisena on Monday appeared before the crime investigation department to record a statement on his recent remarks on the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings that he was "aware" of the masterminds of the attacks that killed 270 people, including 11 Indians.

Sirisena, 72, was president between 2015 January and 2019 November. He had previously denied any knowledge of the attacks on April 21, 2019.

Nihal Thalduwa, police spokesperson, told reporters that a 5-hour-long statement was recorded.

Sirisena arrived around 10:30 in the morning and left around 4 pm, the police said.

Sirisena making a public statement in the central town of Kandy on Wednesday said ''he was aware of the masterminds of the attacks.: "I know who did it", he said.

The Opposition National People's Power lawyers met the Attorney General on Monday and urged him to issue an order to arrest Sirisena.

"It is a crime to conceal information,'' Sunil Watagala, an NPP lawyer said.

The Catholic Church, rights groups and Opposition parties are united in their cry for Sirisena's arrest.

Sirisena had said that he received information three weeks ago and that he would be willing to testify in court on camera. He said that if he were to make an open court statement, his life and his family could be in danger.

Nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka.

However, the timing of the bombing ahead of the 2019 presidential election was the subject of conspiracy theories which suggested that the Rajapaksa brothers then in opposition had taken political advantage of the attacks.

Sirisena was accused and found guilty in a special presidential panel he appointed as the country's president. The findings blamed him for inaction on the prior intelligence received on the attacks.

Later, he was ordered to pay Sri Lankan rupee 100 million to the relatives of the victims of the attack as compensation. He has so far paid only a part of it.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)