Suicide bomber's ID documents missing

Attempt on the life of Defence Secretary

Rafik Jalaldeen

COLOMBO: The CID investigating the attempt on the life of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has uncovered that documents pertaining to the issuance of the National Identity Card to the suicide bomber at the Department of Registration of Persons were missing.

According to the CID, the IDs of all earlier suicide bombers were recovered. However, the documents that ought to have been submitted by the latest LTTE suicide bomber to obtain his ID had gone missing from the Department of Registration of Persons (DRP).

Investigations revealed that the suicide bomber who targeted the Defence Secretary had submitted forged documents to obtain his ID, sources added.

"It is difficult to pursue the investigations since the Department has no information pertaining to his identity. All information supplied on his ID are bogus. There are no documents at the DRP," the CID said. Similarly documents of the ID of the suicide bomber in the Kollupitiya attack was also missing.

The CID said strangely it was only when during the period that Vijaya Ranasinghe was the Commissioner of DRP that ID cards of LTTE suicide cadres following attacks, though recovered did not have documents with the DRP to trace their owners. Ranasinghe is already in custody.

According to the CID the LTTE suicide bombers obtain ID cards for a second time on the pretext of having lost their original ones.

"To get an ID card the second time they should have a police report, Grama Sevaka Report and Birth Certificate.

The DRP has no such documents in their possession relating to the latest suicide bomber at the DRP," sources added.