Arrest made in Sri Lanka blast case

Police trace owner of motorised rickshaw used in Friday’s blast from number plate.

Sri Lanka defence secretary hugs his brother after suicide attack — Gotabaya Rajapakse, left, went to see his brother, President Mahinda Rajapakse, after the attack

A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity citing the sensitivity of the information, said on Saturday that police were able to trace the owner because the blast did not damage the registration number plate of the black-and-yellow motorised rickshaw, a popular mode of transport in Sri Lanka.

The government on Friday blamed Tamil Tiger separatists for the attack.

Gothabaya Rajapakse, who was appointed by his brother last year, has taken a hard line against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The suicide bomber apparently came on a scooter rickshaw from the opposite direction and targeted the convoy, Jayantha Wickremeratne, deputy inspector-general of police, said.

Rajapakse was inside a bulletproof car which was flanked by two motorcycle escorts.

The president’s office said Gothabaya had gone straight to see his brother after the attack.

“After the explosion, he directly came to the president’s office and hugged him,” Sudath Silva, President Rajapakse’s official photographer, said. “The blood on his clothes was that of his security guards.”

The attack comes just days after the LTTE said that they had no option but to fight for an independent homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east of Sri Lanka as the peace process was defunct.

Police on Friday cordoned off the blast site and launched a search operation for an accomplice who may have helped carry out the attack.

More than two decades of separatist violence has killed more than 67,000 civilians, troops and Tamil fighters, about 3,000 of those this year.

Source: News Agencies