The death toll in Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bomb attacks has risen to 359, police said on Wednesday amidst nationwide search operations to nab the perpetrators of the country’s worst terror attack.
Several people were arrested in connection with the attackson Tuesday, Police spokesman Ruwan Guansekera said.
“The number of death now is 359,” Guansekera said.
The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibilityfor the devastating Easter blasts in Sri Lanka and identified the suicidebombers who were involved in the attacks.
Seven suicide bombers carried out a series of devastatingblasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on EasterSunday, in the country’s worst terror attack.
Gunasekera said that the search operations were carried outduring Tuesday night’s curfew hours in different parts of the country.
Police arrested scores of people with their suspected linksto the National Thowheeth Jamath, the group which officials beleive carried outthe bombings.
Over 10 people have been arrested from the Muslim minorityconcentrated areas of Aluthgama and Beruwela, south of Colombo, police said.Further six were arrested at Katuwapitiya in the western coastal area where thebombed St Sebastian’s Church is located.
Giving information on the suicide bombers, the police saidthat the attacks at the Cinnamon Grand and Shangri La Hotels had been carriedout by two brothers.
The Cinnamon Grand Hotel bomber had booked himself into thehotel on the previous night. CCTV footages have shown his breakfast table wherehe was seen consuming pieces of fruit and taking a walk around the restaurantbefore exploding himself.
Their younger brother has also been nabbed by the police.The house search had led to the discovery of extremist literature, a computerhard disk and SIM cards, thought to have been used to coordinate the blasts.
The police has already arrested the accomplices of thebomber of the lodging house near the National Zoo at the Colombo suburb ofDehiwela.
The tuk tuk taxi driver who had taken him to the lodge wasalso arrested, the police said.
The police suspected the bomber may have been targeting thenearby St Mary’s Church where a large gathering was present at the EasterSunday mass.
However, the presence of police at the church, who werethere due to a previous break into the church by thieves, had prevented thebomber’s entry into the church, officials said.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said Parliament would meet onWednesday to debate the security situation in the country in the aftermath ofthe blasts.
The emergency regulations which were announced by PresidentMaithripala Sirisena would be presented for Parliament’s ratification.
The emergency powers allow the security forces to launchcrackdown on law and order breaches by sudden searches of property, arrests anddetention of people indefinitely.
Jayasuriya told Parliament on Tuesday that the security ofParliament has to be stepped-up as warnings were receive on possible threats.
Sirisena, in his national address on Tuesday night, said theemergency regulations would only deal with counter terrorism measures and wouldin no way hamper the democratic and civil freedoms.
The Ministry of Education said the reopening of schools hadbeen put off till April 29.