Former minister Udaya Gammanpila on Monday alleged that the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) uncovered a link between SJB parliamentarian Mujibur Rahman and an Islamic State-affiliated individual based in India during investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.
Speaking at a Colombo media briefing, Gammanpila claimed the TID had sought to question Rahman on the basis of the finding but that a senior police officer intervened to halt the inquiry. “The TID wanted to question him, but a top police officer intervened and stopped the inquiry after the link was uncovered,” he said, according to Newswire.
Gammanpila tied the allegation to his recently published book on the Easter attacks, which names bomber Zahran Hashim as the sole mastermind — a position Rahman and several SJB colleagues have publicly disputed.
Rahman rejected the claim as a political diversion, pointing to the timing of the accusation. “If I was involved, why didn’t they take action when they were in government?” he told reporters, adding that the allegations were designed to shift attention from ongoing investigations into the real masterminds.
The claims have not been independently verified. No record of a formal TID file against Rahman has been made public, and neither the CID nor the Ministry of Public Security has confirmed the account.
The dispute escalates a politically charged exchange between Gammanpila and the SJB in the week following the seventh anniversary of the Easter attacks. It also unfolds alongside the ongoing case against former State Intelligence chief Suresh Sallay, arrested under the PTA in connection with the same investigation.
