COLOMBO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A senior Sri Lankan investigating officer probing the Easter terror attacks has informed a special parliament select committee that the suicide bombings on April 21 were not directly linked to the Islamic State (IS) as earlier claimed, local media reported Thursday.
Senior Deputy Inspector General of the Criminal Investigations Department Ravi Seneviratne told the parliamentary committee, which was appointed in May to investigate the terror attacks, that the suicide bombers were inspired by the IS theology but there was no evidence directly linking them to the IS group.
He said investigations were ongoing to probe if there were more suspects linked to the explosions.
Director of the Criminal Investigations Department Shani Abeysekera testifying before the parliament select committee said that all those involved in the terror blasts had either died or had been arrested and the country was returning to normalcy.
Abeysekera said since the attacks in April, large stocks of weapons and ammunition had been seized from some of the suspects and further investigations were ongoing.
Police said there were over 100 suspects in custody to date, who were directly or indirectly linked to the suicide blasts, and security forces were continuing to conduct island wide operations to nab more suspects.
The local radical National Tawheed Jammaat have been blamed for the attacks.
A series of suicide bombings carried out on April 21, targeting luxury hotels and churches, killed over 250 people and injured over 500.
