The President of Sr Lanka Maithripala Srisena has claimed that Sri Lanka’s deadly Easter Sunday bombings were orchestrated by the International drug syndicates.
However, earlier Islamists groups were blamed for easter bombings by the Sri Lankan leaders.
Interestingly, a nationwide crackdown on drugs is under process and President Sirisena statement blaming the drug syndicate for the bombings comes right in between. As per information, Sirisena is aiming to reintroduce the death penalty for offences related to the drug.
Local jihadist group National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) was blamed to be responsible for the suicide bombings by Sri Lankan authorities. Later the bombings were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group. In April this year, the chain bombings at hotels and churches killed at least 258 people including foreign tourists in Sri Lanka.
A day after the suicide bomb attacks the President’s office had said that local and international terror groups were responsible for the multiple suicide bombings.
However, shifting from the previous claim regarding the suicide bombings presidents office has issued another statement of Sirisena on Monday claiming that the suicide attacks “were the work of international drug dealers”.
He further stated that the drug syndicates carried out this attack to discredit him and discourage his anti-narcotics drive. “I will not be deterred,” he said.
The move from the President seems to get a push for his efforts to reintroduce capital punishment for drug offenders. Sr Lankan President is fighting against efforts by his governing coalition in parliament to abolish capital punishment, which has been subject to a moratorium since 1976.