Sri Lanka suicide bombers visited India in 2012, investigative agencies confirm

Bengaluru: Just days after Sri Lanka’s army chief Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake made a startling revelation that some of the suicide bombers involved in the Easter terror attack had travelled to Kashmir, Kerala, and Bengaluru “for some sort of training”, Indian investigating agencies have confirmed that two of them did, in fact, visit India in 2012 on business visas. But they have refuted that the duo had received any kind of training.

Lieutenant General Senanayake had even made a reference to the civil war in his country with the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, saying there had been too much peace in the last 10 years.

The investigations into the Easter terror attack now seems to have become a sticking point in the bilateral relations.

Two of the Sri Lankan suicide bombers, Ilham Ahmed Mohammad Ebrahim and his older brother Inshaf Ahmed, who had led the fidayeen attacks in Shangri-La and Cinnamon Grand Hotel which claimed 253 lives and injured more than 500 people, had travelled to Bengaluru, Kochi, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi with valid passports on business.

Their father Mohammed Ibrahim, who was subsequently arrested, is a spice tycoon and his company Ishana Exports Ltd., based in Colombo, is listed in Trade India’s list of verified exporters offering quality spices and copper tubes, top sources in central intelligence agencies said.

“Ishana has business interests in various cities — from Kerala to Delhi. Seven years ago, Inshaf and Ilham had come on a business trip. They neither visited Kashmir, nor did they participate in any training camp in India as has been alleged by the Sri Lankan army chief,” the source said.

Highly placed sources have also told TNIE that Sri Lanka has not yet shared any leads or information that link that attackers to India or their travel. 

However, they did not deny that investigation agencies have asked for those inputs. In fact, Indian agencies have sought information from their counterparts in the island nation on the timeline and travel details of the terrorists to India along with their photographs. “Since the army chief has made a specific statement on the travel of some of the suicide bombers to India, they should be in possession of the information, which is critical for the security of the region. Sri Lanka has so far not provided any details. Hence, it [Senanayake’s statement] remains in a realm of speculation,” said a highly placed source. (Source: New Indian Express)