193rd Day of the Main Easter Attack Trial – HC (TAB) 2972/21
Date: 25th May 2026|
Venue: Special Permanent Three-Judge High Court (Trial-at-Bar), 2nd Floor, MCC Building, Adhikarana Mawatha, Colombo 12.
Today, when the matter was taken up before the Special Trial-at-Bar, the Prison Medical Officer informed the Court that the 12th Accused was suffering only from an eye allergy and not from an infectious eye disease, further stated that the condition would not pose any risk to others present in Court.
Thereafter, the prosecution made an application seeking to temporarily suspend the voir dire proceedings related to the 25th Accused for the day and informed the Court that insted they intend to lead evidence related to the alleged teaching and practical training sessions conducted at the Thakshila Guest House situated in the Shanthipura area of Nuwara Eliya.
At that stage, the 9th Accused, on behalf of all accused, objected to the sudden change in the course of proceedings, stating that the defence had not been previously informed that the prosecution intended to halt the voir dire inquiry and proceed with a segment of the main trial. It was further submitted that the defence had not been furnished with the relevant witness statements and connected documents necessary for the hearing. In response, Court observed that the case involved a highly complex criminal trial with numerous accused and extensive documentary material, and accordingly directed the prosecution to provide the defence with the relevant witness statements and documents. The Court further observed that the statements intended to be used for the day’s proceedings were comparatively brief.
Subsequently, the prosecution sought permission to add two additional witnesses to the main witness list, namely Thakshila Indith Kumara as PW-2229 and Ranganath Thilakarathne as PW-2230, which permission was granted by Court. The prosecution also sought summons on several witnesses, namely PW-1374, PW-1388, PW-1389, PW-1390, PW-1391, PW-1392, PW-1393 and PW-1399, and Court issued summons accordingly.
Thereafter, PW-2229 Thakshila Indith Kumara was called to testify. During his evidence in chief, the witness stated that he and his brother-in-law, Hasitha de Alwis, had advertised their holiday home situated at No. 01/56, Shanthipura, Nuwara Eliya through a website on or around August 2017. According to the witness, the holiday home had subsequently been booked by persons later identified as members of the Saharan group through telephone number 0718510539, also he stated that he only became aware of their alleged identity after the Easter Sunday incident of 21.04.2019 when police officers searched the premises and informed him accordingly.
The witness further testified that the relevant persons had deposited money into his Bank of Ceylon accounts bearing numbers 6696262 and 79547895, despite the fact that he had only provided one account number to them. He stated that the holiday home had been reserved for seven days at a rate of Rs. 10,000/- per day, with an advance payment of Rs. 10,000/- being deposited into his account while the balance amount of Rs. 60,000/- had been handed over to Ranga Indika Weerasinghe, who had been entrusted with maintaining the premises. The witness further stated that no receipt had been issued for the said payment.
The witness also stated that on 08.05.2018, Ranga Indika Weerasinghe had become suspicious of the occupants because they had remained continuously inside the premises without engaging in normal tourist activities and had not permitted him to enter the premises for cleaning purposes. According to the witness, Ranga had initially informed the police, but no response had been received. Thereafter, with the assistance of one Illesinghe, a call had allegedly been made to the emergency police number 119, following which police officers arrived at the premises. The witness further stated that after the arrival of the police officers, the occupants had left the premises before completing the full seven-day stay and had requested the return of the balance money after staying only four days.
During the proceedings, the witness’s bank details were marked as P-808 while his telephone records covering the period from 04.01.2018 to 30.06.2018 were marked as P-809.
During cross-examination by the 5th Accused, it was suggested that much of the witness’s evidence was not based on his own direct observations but rather on what had allegedly been told to him by Ranga Indika Weerasinghe, which the witness substantially admitted. It was further suggested that the witness’s earlier statements given to the TID did not mention that Illesinghe had called 119 or that police officers had arrived at the premises, which suggestions were denied by the witness. The defence further suggested that those matters had not appeared in the earlier statements because such incidents had never in fact occurred, which suggestion was also denied. The witness further denied a suggestion that his complaint to the TID had been made under the guidance or influence of another person.
During cross-examination by the 9th Accused, the witness admitted that there was no evidence that police officers who visited the premises had discovered any weapons or illegal drugs at the guest house. The witness also partially admitted that portions of his evidence were based on the experiences or observations of another individual rather than matters personally witnessed by him.
No re-examination was conducted thereafter.
At the conclusion of the day’s proceedings, several corrections were made to the record, including the removal of duplicated and repetitive same natured charges. Thereafter, the matter was adjourned and fixed for tomorrow, 26.05.2026 at 10.00 a.m., for the continuation of evidence related to the alleged training and teaching activities conducted in the Shanthipura area of Nuwara Eliya.
Next Date: 26.05.2026 at 10.00 am
