Letter to secretary of the ministry of public security”, 18 May 2025 (attachment in Franciscan International submision to UNHRC May2025

Although it has been six years since the brutal Easter Sunday attacks, there are still a number of aspects that need to be further investigated to ensure justice is served. This brief report is about issues that need attention and should be further investigated in future investigations.

It is our observation that, given the current circumstances, at least five main points should be investigated.

Those are as follows:

1. Matters regarding Abdul Latif Mohamed Jameel, who was killed in the bomb explosion at the Dehiwala Tropical Inn

2. Matters about Abu Hind connected to Zahran

3. Matters regarding Pulasthini Mahendran alias Sarah Jesmine, who is suspected of fleeing the attack on the Bolivarian village of Sainthamaruthu in Kalmunai, and the Sainthamaruthu explosion

4. Matters relating to the statements of Hansir Azad Maulana, who made a revelation on ‘Channel 4’ while abroad

5. Failure to act on warnings before the attack.

Matters related to Abdul Latif Mohammed Jameel

There are a number of suspicious matters surrounding Abdul Latif Mohammed Jameel, who attempted to detonate a bomb at the Taj Samudra Hotel during the brutal Easter Sunday attacks and was later killed in the bomb explosion at the Tropical Inn in Dehiwala.

1. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission on the Easter Sunday attacks that the attention of intelligence agencies has been focused on Jameel since 2015. Prior to this attack, Jameel was reportedly investigated/surveilled by the State Intelligence Service, the Directorate of Military Intelligence and the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID). As has been revealed so far, although investigations were conducted by the above three institutions/departments regarding Jameel, they failed to obtain advance warnings about this attack through him or prevent the attack. According to the facts revealed by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, the Presidential Committee appointed under the chairmanship of Justice Vijith Malalgoda, the Parliamentary Select Committee, and information found from other sources, further investigations are required into the following matters regarding Jameel.

2. The security manager of the Taj Samudra Hotel testified before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry that it is standard procedure to send a list of all individuals who came the hotel by 12 pm midnight the previous day, to the State Intelligence Service and the Presidential Security Division between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. of the next day. On the evening of April 20, 2019, Jameel arrived and booked a room at the Taj Samudra Hotel. The security manager had forwarded the list of rooms booked by midnight on April 20, 2019, to the relevant departments on the morning of the 21st. Accordingly, it is necessary to investigate whether the State Intelligence Service identified Jameel, a person they were collecting information about, on this list in the morning and, if so, what steps were taken in this regard.

3. The hotel’s security manager stated at the Presidential Commission that it is mandatory to enter the national identity card numbers of all guests who book rooms at the hotel into the hotel’s database. However, it was later revealed that Jameel’s national identity card number was not in the system. It is important to investigate whether Jameel’s National Identity Card (NIC) number was never entered into the system or if it was entered and later deleted. If it was not entered at the outset, it must be determined whether this was an oversight or a deliberate act influenced by someone’s knowledge or intervention. If the NIC number was entered and then removed, the investigation must identify who was responsible and the reasons behind their actions.

4. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry heard evidence that a suspicious person had visited the Taj Samudra Hotel on April 17, 2019, before Jameel arrived at the hotel on April 20, 2019. He was later identified as Infas, who arrived at 1.45 pm. Accordingly, further investigation is needed into whether, in addition to the arrival of Infas on April 17, other suspicious individuals arrived at the hotel before and after the attack, as there has been no proper investigation.

5. Jameel, who had booked a room on April 20, 2019 at around 4.17 pm, went to the hotel room and left the hotel again, returning on the morning of April 21, 2019. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that he had gone near the room in the morning and had returned to ask for a new card to open the room. There has been no further investigation into what happened to the card originally issued to him. Accordingly, this matter also needs to be investigated.

6. On the morning of April 21, 2019, Jameel returned to the Taj Samudra Hotel (due to the bomb not exploding or for some other reason) and shortly before he left the hotel, between 8.51 and 8.54 am, CCTV cameras recorded that Jameel received phone calls. Since it has not yet been revealed who made such calls to Jameel, it should be investigated.

7. Jameel’s wife, Fatima Shifana Umarkatha, had stated during the investigation that Jameel had sent a voice message to her at 8.30 am on April 20, 2019, saying that he was going to Hijra. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that in the voice message claimed to have been received by Umarkatha, the voices of small children could be heard. It is necessary to investigate who are the children whose voices are heard in the background of that voice message, and where and on what date the voice messages were recorded.

8. Jameel’s wife, Umarkatha, has stated during the investigation that the mobile phone number from which the voice message was allegedly sent has been deleted. She also stated that the voice message did not come from Jameel’s regular phone number. Accordingly, it is necessary to investigate whether this voice message was sent by Jameel himself or whether a previously recorded voice message was sent by another person, and the number from which it was sent, as investigations have not yet revealed information in this regard.

9. The CCTV footage of Jameel leaving his house on April 19, 2019 was examined by officers of the Counter-Terrorism and Investigation Division on the evening of April 21, 2019, and the DVR containing the footage was taken away by those officers. When the DVR was taken away, the footage from March 31, 2019, until the machine was removed on the evening of April 21 had been recorded. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that from the DVR that was taken, the section of the video footage from 8:00 am on April 19, 2019 to 2:30 pm on April 21, 2019 was missing. Officials had stated before the commission that once the DVR was removed during the investigations, the video footage may have been deleted. Initially, there was relevant footage, therefore it is necessary to investigate how only the sections from the day Jameel left the house until the time the TID officers removed the machine was erased from the entire CCTV footage. The deleted footage should be restored and based on that footage, an investigation should be conducted into Jameel, the members of Jameel’s household, and the people who visited the house during this period.

10. Jameel had gone to the Taj Samudra Hotel on the evening of April 20, 2019 and had then gone to a house in Panadura. Although it was revealed that he had left the place at around 7 pm and gone to the Span Tower on Templers Road, Mount Lavinia at 7.33 pm with two others, no investigation has been conducted into who those two people who went there were. Therefore, investigations should also be conducted in that regard.

11. On April 21, 2019, when Jameel was inside the Ebenezer Mosque, the mosque’s Maulvi noticed that he had a mobile phone in his hand. However, a private security officer named Amir stated

after checking him when he was leaving the mosque that he did not have a mobile phone with him. Therefore, an investigation should be conducted into the reason why the mobile phone he had inside the church was not there when he left the church, and whether anyone had taken the mobile phone he had, and if so, who it was.

12. It should be investigated whether the mobile phone Jameel had in his possession at the Taj Samudra Hotel and the mobile phone Jameel had in his possession inside the mosque are the same.

13. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that Jameel stated that he was staying in the mosque until someone else arrived. An investigation should be conducted into this matter and who it was that he was expecting.

14. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that shortly after the series of bomb attacks on April 21, 2019, the Director of Army Intelligence had sent a group of Army Intelligence officers to Jameel’s house. The private security guard who checked Jameel near the Ebenezer Mosque had been given a phone call by the intelligence officers who had gone there and had informed him to come near a Buddha statue at Havelock. It was also revealed at the Presidential Commission that the security officer had immediately gone to the Wellawatte Police Station after suspicions arose as to whether they were trying to cause some form of harm because the relevant group did not arrive, even though the security officer had gone there. Since no investigation has been conducted into this matter to date, an investigation should be conducted.

15. An investigation should be conducted as to what happened to the T-56 rifle in the footage allegedly recorded on the afternoon of April 20, 2019, where Jameel, Zahran and others were carrying firearms and other weapons, and if it was taken and dumped somewhere, investigations should look into who did it.

16. Footage recorded in this manner was later found in the Kalmunai area and handed over to the Terrorism Investigation Division by officers of the Akkaraipattu Police. When asked who took the footage to the relevant area, officials from the Terrorism Investigation Division told the Presidential Commission that they suspected that the Batticaloa bomber may have taken it in this manner. However, this has not been revealed in the investigation into the Batticaloa bomber. Therefore, an investigation should be conducted into who took the equipment containing this footage to the relevant area. Also, the banner shown in the background of these recordings was

found in the Kalmunai area on April 26, 2019, and it should be investigated as to who took that banner to the relevant area.

17. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that Mr. Suresh Sallay, while he was the Intelligence Director, had directed an Army Intelligence agent to the JMI organization, of which Jameel was a member (and three other bombers were members). It was also revealed at the Presidential Commission that the agent, while being a member of the JMI organization, had been provided with a house by the Directorate of Military Intelligence with the support of a foreign intelligence unit to conduct discussions within the organization. Investigations also revealed that some of those discussions had been recorded. There has been no formal investigation into the matters discussed in those discussions, nor into the failure to uncover and thwart their plans while employing an agent as a member of the JMI organization. Therefore, a formal investigation should be conducted in this regard as well.

18. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that the Army Intelligence Directorate had informed the Army Commander and the Security Council that Zahran had travelled to India in December 2018. It should be investigated whether Zahran has actually gone to India during this time, or whether the story was fabricated to prevent the disclosure of facts about the activities (including negotiations) carried out by Zahran in Sri Lanka during the time period. If he did go to India, we need to investigate where he went and who he met.

19. Fatima Jifriya, the wife of Mohammed Ilham, a member of the JMI organization of which Jameel was a member, was killed in an explosion allegedly carried out at Mahawila Park, along with her three children and three officers of the Colombo Crimes Division. It was stated during the Presidential Commission’s evidence hearing that there was talk that a person had fled from the house in question prior to the explosion. A formal investigation should be conducted into whether such a person fled, if so, who it was, what he did in that house, etc.

20. The aforementioned Fatima Jifriya’s mobile phone was found by the investigation teams while it was left in another house, and investigations should be conducted through that phone.

21. It was revealed at the Easter Commission that Jameel and Ilham began to associate in 2014, and that Ilham had changed after his association with Jameel, and that therefore Jameel had been banned from visiting Ilham’s house by Ilham’s father, a businessman named Ibrahim. It was also revealed that Jameel and Ilham and their group had visited the Sri Lanka Thowheeth

Jama’ath Mosque in Maradana during this period. The Sri Lanka Thowheeth Jama’ath Mosque was also the starting point for Hasthun and his wife Pulasthini Mahendran, the bomber of the Katuwapitiya mosque. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that Sri Lanka Thowheeth Jama’ath leader Abdul Razik had been summoned to the office of Western Province Senior DIG Anura Senanayake for discussions with Army Intelligence officers and had also been summoned to the Ministry of Defense before the good governance government came to power in 2015. Deputy Inspector General of Police Palitha Siriwardena confirmed this in a public discussion. Although the link between the Easter Sunday attacks and the activities of the Sri Lanka Thowheeth Jama’ath organization should have been fully investigated since 2013, such an investigation has not taken place to date. Therefore, an investigation should be conducted in this regard.

Facts about Abu Hind connected to Zahran

National Intelligence Chief Nilantha Jayawardena had stated before the Presidential Commission that Abu Hind may have been involved in instigating this attack. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that in addition to Zahran, Abu Hind also spoke with Rilwan and Naufer Maulavi. During the debates held in Parliament when Ranil Wickremesinghe was the President, the then ruling party stated that Abu Hind was only an alias used by a foreign intelligence service to obtain information. However, as revealed by the Presidential Commission, Abu Hind was a key participant or witness in this attack. However, the identity of Abu Hind has not been revealed yet. Therefore, an investigation should be conducted into Abu Hind and information should be revealed about who he is and under whom he worked.

Matters related to Pulasthini Mahendran alias Sarah Jesmine, who is suspected of fleeing during the attack on the Bolivarian village of Sainthamaruthu in Kalmunai, and the Sainthamaruthu explosion

The explosion in a house in the Sainthamaruthu Bolivarian village of Kalmunai occurred on April 26, 2019. The entire process surrounding this explosion is highly suspicious and consists of many uninvestigated matters.

1. The first point is that there are contradictions in the statements given by police officers to the Criminal Investigation Department, the statements given to the Presidential Commission, the entries made in the travel notebooks of high-ranking officials, the entries made in the information books, and the statements given to the Human Rights Commission

regarding the incident at this house. Accordingly, all those statements should be studied and an investigation should be conducted into those contradictions.

2. After this explosion, the very next day, on April 27, 2019, the Headquarters Inspector of Police in the Kalmunai Police Station, the police station in the area, submitted a B report to the Kalmunai Magistrate’s Court, reporting that 16 people had died in the explosion. However, two days later, an OIC of another police station, namely the Ampara Headquarters Inspector of Police, reported to the same court that 17 people had died in the Sainthamaruthu explosion. While no new information has been found regarding the deceased and the post-mortem reports only contain details regarding the deaths of 16 people, an investigation should be conducted into the basis on which the Police Inspector reported that 17 people had died.
3. The first reported survivors of the attack were Fatima Hadiya, the wife of Zahran Hashim, and Zahran and Hadiya’s daughter. The police first recorded Hadiya’s statement on 3 May 2019 at 11.30 am while she was receiving treatment for injuries sustained in the attack. The statement was recorded for 3 days, and it was revealed on 5th May 2019 at 5.19 pm that Sarah Jesmine was present at the Sainthamaruthu house at the time of the explosion. It should be investigated whether the Ampara division Police Inspector reported the deaths of 17 people to convince that Sarah Jasmine was dead, and if the existence of Sarah was discovered before Hadiya revealed the facts about Sarah’s existence, how this was done.
4. Similarly, an investigation should be conducted into how the Ampara Police Station reported Sarah’s death to the court when there was no evidence that she was dead and no DNA had been confirmed.
5. Zahran’s wife has stated in her statement before the Easter Commission that a woman with Sarah Jesmine’s appearance and voice spoke to her at the scene after the Sainthamaruthu attack. Zahran’s wife has also made statements regarding this matter before the officers of the Criminal Investigation Department. Therefore, a formal investigation should be conducted into this matter.
6. Officials and civilians present at the scene have stated that a motorcycle fled the area during the Sainthamaruthu explosion. No investigation has been conducted yet into the identity of the person who escaped on a motorcycle. That too should be investigated.

7. It was also revealed at the Presidential Commission that a person fled after the explosion and that the military opened fire on him but was unable to capture him, and that someone’s escape was recorded on a CCTV camera. A formal investigation should be conducted into this matter and the truth should be revealed.
8. Similarly, Zahran’s wife, Fatima Hadiya, stated at the Presidential Commission that one of Zahran’s brothers was alive after the bomb blast and that a gunshot was heard afterwards. A formal investigation should be conducted into whether Zahran’s brother was killed and burned alive by someone who arrived at the scene after the bomb blast at his home, even though he was not killed.
9. Also on the same day, a woman in a three-wheeler was killed in a shooting, by the military on the bridge leading into the Bolivarian village. Although there was a rumor in the area at the time that she had somehow intervened in helping Zahran’s group find the house that had exploded in the Bolivarian village, no formal investigation was conducted into the matter. The court was informed that the shooting was committed because the driver was driving despite orders, and further investigations into the matter were halted. Accordingly, a formal investigation should also be conducted into the death of this woman.
10. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that tracer bullets were fired during the gunfire that day from the direction of the Sainthamaruthu house. It is not yet known how the tracer bullets, which are widely used to identify locations during military operations, came into the hands of this group. Therefore, a formal investigation must be conducted into the matter.
11. The firearm in the hand of the person who died in front of the Sainthamaruthu house after this incident was a firearm issued to the Sri Lanka Police. A formal investigation should be conducted into how that firearm came into the hands of the relevant person.
12. It was also stated that information had been submitted to the Presidential Commission that Kalmunai Siyam had also escaped from the relevant house at the time of the Sainthamaruthu explosion, and that no evidence had been found to support this. Therefore, investigations should also be conducted regarding this matter.
13. Although investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department revealed that a SIM card had been obtained for Sarah Jesmine’s National Identity Card in 2020, those investigations were halted after 2020. Accordingly, the purchase of the relevant SIM card should be investigated.

14. Similarly, Sarah Jesmine’s national identity card was given to Criminal Investigation Department officers by the Ampara Divisional Officer a few days after the Sainthamaruthu attack. There is no mention of such a national identity card being found in the list of items initially found at the crime scene. It should also be investigated whether this national identity card was later given to the CID as a result of a conspiracy to convince people that Sarah died at the scene.
15. Matters related to the statements made by Hansir Azath Maulana, who made a revelation on Channel 4 while abroad
16. The Criminal Investigation Department has now commenced investigations based on a complaint filed by the Centre for Society and Religion regarding the statement made by Hansir Azath Maulana. Former MP Udaya Gammanpila made public the report of the committee appointed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to investigate his statements. In that report, the relevant committee stated that it suspected that there was a connection between Azath Maulana and the Zahran’s group. The report also states that the doctor who treated Saharan’s brother Rilwan in August 2018 and Azath Maulana both lived in the same village (Maruthamunai), that Azath Maulana had helped the doctor to go abroad, and that both of them have 02 houses in the Ebenezer area of Dehiwala. While investigating the entire disclosure of the Channel 4, the following points should also be investigated.
17. Azath Maulana alleges that former Army Intelligence Director Suresh Sallay called on April 21, 2019, and asked him to take Jameel away. As previously mentioned in this document, the bomb did not explode at the Taj Samudra Hotel on April 21, 2019, and Jameel received a phone call between 8.51 and 8.54 that morning. After that call, Jameel left the hotel and went to the Tropical Inn in Dehiwala, where he left his bag and went to the Muslim Mosque in Ebenezer, Dehiwala. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that Jameel had told the maulvi of the mosque that he was waiting for a friend to arrive, while he waited there for a long time until someone arrived. According to the Presidential Committee that investigated the Channel 4 allegations, there is a house in Ebenezer Place, Dehiwala, belonging to Azath Maulana. If so, it should be investigated whether Jameel went from the Taj Samudra Hotel to the Ebenezer Mosque in Dehiwala to meet Azath Maulana or to meet one of his representatives.
18. Dr. Shafraz, who treated Rilwan, received a call from a foreign country at 1.38 am on August 27, 2018, from a person named Mohamed Alliyar Marshuk Rila. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that a Sri Lankan phone number then sent photos of the injured Rilwan and called him, and that the doctor advised him to be admitted to the Colombo National Hospital immediately. It was also revealed at the Presidential Commission that Zahran Hashim had gone to the doctor’s house in December 2018 with

the aforementioned Marshuk Rila and two others. The doctor’s mobile phone was taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department on September 19, 2019. Accordingly, an investigation should be conducted into the individuals who spoke to the doctor regarding Rilwan’s issue, and the group who went to the doctor’s house with Zahran in December 2018.

Failure to act on information received prior to the attack

In addition to the 4 main points mentioned above, an investigation should also be conducted into the failure to act on the intelligence information received on April 21, 2019. Based on information received on the evening of April 20, 2019 that an attack was planned to target Christian churches on April 21, 2019, Colombo DIG Lalith Pathinayake called the Colombo South Superintendent of Police Nishantha Zoysa at 7.19 pm that night. It was revealed at the Presidential Commission that it was informed that there is a possibility of an attack targeting Christian churches on Easter Sunday, and that instructions have been given to provide security to churches and increase mobile visits. The official residence of the Archbishop of Colombo is also located in the Colombo South Division. Despite this, a special investigation should be conducted into the failure to provide information about this attack to the Archbishop’s official residence.