Published on - 6/5/2008
COLOMBO: BARELY fourteen hours after LTTE's abortive Wednesday (4) morning attempt to explode the passenger train passing WELLAWATTA area, alert Civil Defence Forces' members and the Police around 8.30 p.m. the same day (4) arrested the prime terrorist suspect behind the blast when he was attempting to slip through IRATTAPERIYAKULAM roadblock in VAVUNIYA.
The LTTE suspect, JATHEESAN BALASUBRAMANIYAM (30) of WATTALA has admitted to the Police that he masterminded the criminal act and escaped from WELLAWATTA area, despite the pursuit done by a three-wheeler driver who tried to overpower him after a few assaults on him.
The self-claimed LTTE terrorist suspect while undergoing routine checking at the above roadblock, manned by combined Civil Defence Forces (CDF) members, Police and the Army, has conducted himself in a peculiar suspicious manner and has tried nervously to take cover behind others, infusing suspicion in one of the woman CDF soldiers. The woman CDF soldier has identified the suspect immediately since the Police in the morning have released his photo for public assistance. (See our Situation Report Highlight story on Wednesday, 4th June)
The terrorist suspect, posing off as an ordinary passenger with his remote-controlled bomb, has boarded the office train at RATMALANA and was planning to explode the train at any moment, but the presence of armed Security Forces inside the train, has driven fear into him, the Police was told in his confessions after the arrest.
However, an instant change of mind amidst excitement forced him to get off near WELLAWATTA, as the train slowed down while simultaneously committing the crime after throwing the bomb under the train, but the plan did not work as anticipated, instead the bomb hit the track when his hand-held remote-controller was activated in fear.
The suspect in panic has afterwards taken to his heels and jumped into a passing bus on the GALLE road and proceeded towards DEHIWALA with no aim in mind before he returned to COLOMBO centre and suddenly got into a VAVUNIYA bound bus late in the afternoon with the intention of entering un-cleared areas of WANNI.
The arrest of the terrorist suspect, according to the Police has made a major breakthrough into the investigations surrounding a spate of recent LTTE bombings and killings in COLOMBO and its suburbs. He has also admitted to the Police that he received the bomb from another terrorist element in COLOMBO area.
Police teams continue with their investigations.
