By Easwaran Rutnam
The United Kingdom (UK) is prepared to assist Sri Lanka investigate the Easter Sunday attacks.
Tom Tugendhat, the UK Home Office Minister of State for Security said that the Home Office works closely with policing partners to support requests from international partners across the full spectrum of policing.
He told the UK House of Commons that the Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism command dispatched a team of specialists to Sri Lanka in 2019, including family liaison officers, to support the families of British victims and assist with the repatriation of deceased British nationals.
Tugendhat said a programme run by Interpol involved the training of 30 Sri Lankan forensic specialists and police officers by UK experts in disaster victim identification.
The UK Minister said that the Metropolitan Police has not deployed any officers in support of the Sri Lankan investigation/
However, he said it will consider any request to support an overseas investigation where it is proportionate, necessary and legal.
In July, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the absence of a proper investigation into the Easter Sunday attacks meant that the issue has still not been fully resolved.
Wickremesinghe said that due to the incomplete nature of the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks, he will be requesting the assistance of the UK Government and their intelligence services.
On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital, Colombo, were targeted in a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide bombings.
Later that day, there were smaller explosions at a housing complex in Dematagoda and a guest house in Dehiwala.
A total of 269 people were killed, including at least 45 foreign nationals, three police officers, and eight bombers, and at least 500 were injured. (Colombo Gazette)
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