Date: 12th August 2026
Case No: HC (TAB) 2972/21
Court: Special Permanent Three-Judge High Court (Trial-at-Bar)
Venue: Special Permanent Three-Judge High Court (Trial-at-Bar), 2nd Floor, MCC Building, Adhikarana Mawatha, Colombo 12.
The case was taken up before the Trial-at-Bar with all accused present, except the 17th accused, who had passed away. The 2nd, 7th, 8th, 10th, 15th, 17th, 18th, and 19th accused were represented by Mr. Kaneel Maddumage, AAL. The 12th and 13th accused were represented by Mr. Ravindu Yasas, AAL. The 20th to 25th accused were represented by Mr. Mayuran Mahalingam AAL under the instructions of Mr. Sanjeewa Ruwanpathirana, AAL. The 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th, 14th, and 16th accused appeared in person.
The witness PW 1439, E.M Dinesh Theekshana Ekanayake a Senior officer working at the Digital and Computer Forensic Unit of the Government Analyst’s Department, testified regarding productions directed by the Mount Lavinia Magistrate Court under reference number HD 244/21. Pursuant to this direction, the witness prepared a sandeshaya on May 10, 2021, which was marked as P 2062, as well as the digital and computer forensic analysis report bearing number HD 244/21, marked as P 2063. This report was formulated by comparing two CDs and a pen drive; however, since one of the CDs was non-functional, the analysis relied solely on the working CD and the pen drive. The functional CD contained a video of Saharan Hashim, and the witness further conducted a 3D-level inspection of the physical location by examining the wall, tiles, and spatial dimensions to prepare the report based on those observations.
During cross-examination by the 9th accused, the witness clarified that a hash value is used to check the integrity of data by verifying whether it has been altered or modified, and explained that the creation data refers to the date of copy. He further testified that modified data refers to the date of change, and when he was shown productions P 2056 and P 2057 which were soft copies of a hard disk in the Tamil medium he confirmed in response to a question regarding their P markings that they did not contain a hash value.
The witness PW 2299, A.G.R.B. Kumara an officer from the Government Languages Department testified. He is the one who translated P 2056 and P 2057 into Sinhala, with those translations marked as P 2056A and P 2057A. During cross-examination by Mr. Sanjeewa Ruanpathirana, counsel for the 20th to 25th accused, the witness stated that by looking at the original Tamil documents of P 2056 and P 2057, he could not say who prepared them, and explained that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had referred the translation job to the head of the Government Languages Department. Further cross-examined by the third accused, the witness acknowledged that the document contained the name “Milhan” referred to as “the brother Milhan” without initials or a surname, and stated that he could not specify who that Milhan actually was. During the cross-examination of 4th accused, it was established that while the Tamil document mentions certain names, it does not include their IDs, surnames, initials, or addresses. The witness confirmed that the name Abu Umar appears in the document, but clarified that it does not list him as Sadiq Abdullah. Following further questioning by the first accused, the witness acknowledged that the name Nawfer is also included, though they stated it cannot be determined which specific Nawfer is being referred to.
The witness PW 1447, Dhanushka Pradeep is an Assistant Controller from the Department of Immigration and Emigration. He was shown document P2058, which is a photograph of Hasthun related to a passport application containing a barcode. The witness acknowledged this as an acknowledgment note that indicates the photo studio’s name, number, and address, along with a reference number. The photograph was dated September 5, 2018, and listed his name as Achchi Mohamadu Mohamad Hastoon, along with his telephone number. Additionally, the witness reviewed travel documents and database passport records for the third accused, Milhan, noting that he traveled abroad once and returned to Sri Lanka on April 17, 2019, having gone to Riyadh via Male, and arrived in Sri Lanka on June 14, 2019. Furthermore, the witness was shown travel documents and database passport reports for the fourth accused, Sadiq Abdulla, which were marked as P2066 to P2067; these records indicate that the fourth accused traveled to Male on May 14, 2014, and returned to Sri Lanka from Istanbul on October 5, 2014. During the cross-examination by the third accused, the witness confirmed that the third accused’s passport is genuine and stated that traveling to another country is not illegal. Subsequently, the fifth accused cross-examined the witness and marked their passenger inquiry report as 5D3. There was no re-examination.
The witness PW 1955, Inspector of Police Upali testified regarding the arrest of the third accused, Milhan, stating that Milhan was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport on June 14, 2019, and handed over to the Special Unit of the CID. The witness also noted that he recorded a statement from the eighth accused on May 16, 2019, and identified document P1738 as that previously marked statement.
During cross-examination by Mr. Kaneel Madhumage, the witness stated that he had taken several statements from the eighth accused, who was kept in the CID Special Unit for about a year. The witness denied suggestions that the eighth accused did not give any statement on May 16, 2019 or any other day. Furthermore, the witness denied allegations that the eighth accused could not understand Sinhala, that the witness had assaulted him, and that he had injured the eighth accused by throwing hot water on his body.
The witness PW 1925, SI Sanath Nandasiri detailed investigations concerning the 11th accused (Khalid Sameer), the 25th accused (Akram), and several safe houses connected to the Easter Sunday attacks. On May 6, 2019, police searched the 11th accused’s Maligawatta residence, seizing electronics and a Bajaj motorcycle purchased via Nuha Motors using funds from Saharan (with bill book P989 and bill P989(A)). The witness also gathered bills for Lab equipments acquired by the 11th accused, Milhan, and Ghafoor Mama, such as washing machine components, lab equipment from Micro Lab, switches from Asia Electric, and a Hardy electrical bill marked as P2070, along with PR of the recoveries of 11th accused house was marked P2068 to P2069. The witness further investigated three safe houses under the direction of the 11th accused and 25th accused. Such as the Malwana safe house rented by Mohamed Mubarak and the 10th accused Abdul Latif Mohamed Safi (rent agreement P882), the Wattala-Elakanda-Hunupitiya safe house, and the Daluwakotuwa-Janapada Mawatha safe house (lease agreement P825). Additional investigations covered weapon training sessions held on June 13, 2019, behind Safi’s Rambukkana home (indicated by Akram), as well as training camps in Hambantota and Sippikulama, and a site visit to the Penda Multi Sports Arena in Malwana. Finally, the witness noted involvement in investigations regarding the 2018 Sinhala-Muslim conflict in Digana. The witness was first cross-examined by Mr. Sanjeewa Ruwanpathirana, counsel for the 20th through 25th accused. During this questioning, counsel suggested that the witness failed to produce any direct evidence, that the 25th accused had no idea about the Malwana location, and that the 25th accused was falsely linked to the incident without any actual connection. The witness was also accused of lying about revealing details from the Malwana Penda Multi Sports unit CR book, and of falsely claiming that the 25th accused pointed out a Rambawa location or was ever taken there by the witness. The witness denied all of these suggestions.
During his cross-examination, Mr. Kaneel Madhumage suggested that there are numerous houses near the 10th accused’s house, noting specifically that the Thalgahawewa Muslim School is located just 20 meters away. He further suggested that the witness’s draft notes contain no mention of a forestry area behind the 10th accused’s house and that no evidence exists showing any weapon training took place there.
Following this, the 4th accused cross-examined the witness, questioning whether the police team recovered anything illegal from Khalid’s house, the witness answered no. Regarding the confiscated motorcycle, the witness stated it was seized under the orders of the president of that era, and confirmed it was treated as a production, though he acknowledged it was not formally produced as a production in this case. The witness affirmed that notes were made regarding the recovery of washing machine circuits, denying the suggestion that he lied about it. Finally, the witness accepted that the CR book recovered from the owner of Asia Electric does not contain the name of the electric company, and agreed that there are no written notes stating the 11th accused purchased washing machine circuits. During the cross-examination by the 11th accused, the witness denied making any promises to the 11th accused, his mother, or his father that he would become a government witness in exchange for giving a statement to a magistrate. It was suggested that he was made an accused in this case only because an officer withheld consent for him to turn government witness, the witness denied the claim. The 11th accused then presented the indictment from the Puttalam, Wanathavilluwa High Court case (HC 107/21), which was marked as 11D2, pointing out that he is listed as the 10th government witness in that case marked as 11D2(A). The witness acknowledged that the 11th accused’s name does not appear on the Asia Electric and Micro Lab bills.
After that third accused cross-examined the witness, confirming that the witness did not know him personally and had not conducted any investigation concerning a person named Milhan. During re-examination, the witness clarified that there is no legal obstacle preventing someone from being a government witness in one case while being named an accused in another case.
The witness PW 1922, SI Madushan stated that he served in the TID from 2018 to 2021. He testified that on April 27, 2019, the Army arrested the 13th accused, who was subsequently handed over to the TID on April 28 through Officer Subasinghe. The witness also conducted investigations concerning the 12th accused and participated in team investigations at the Blackpool Hotel in Nuwara Eliya and Lewella, Aruppola in Kandy. He noted that during the visit to Lewella, the 25th, 12th, 13th, and 21st accused were also taken to the location. During the cross-examination, Mr. Niroshan Siriwardena, counsel for the 12th and 13th accused, suggested that the Lewella location had already been revealed before the Easter Sunday attacks and that the 12th accused never pointed out the place, while also claiming there were no telephone data reports proving the 12th accused was brought there; the witness denied all of these suggestions. Subsequently, Mr. Sanjeewa Ruwanpathirana, counsel for the 20th to 25th accused, questioned the nature of the Blackpool Hotel, suggesting that weapon training could not have taken place there given its location, and claimed that the 21st and 25th accused had never visited the Kandy Lewella Aruppola hotel, accusing the witness of lying. Finally, the 9th accused cross-examined the witness, confirming that the alleged weapon training sites were in urban areas rather than isolated locations, yet admitting that no weapons, bullet impact marks, or complaints from neighbors were ever recorded despite the massive sounds reported. The 9th accused suggested that a legitimate Muslim religious program had been falsely labeled as a weapon training program, which the witness denied.
The witness PW 1933, Saman Weerasooriya a TID officer, testified about investigating the Delgahagoda Hingula program and collecting a statement from Jaseer Khan Jaufer Sadik, as well as arresting the 21st accused. During cross-examination by the 9th accused, the witness confirmed that there are many houses near the mosque and that no complaints were received from neighbors, while it was suggested that Jaseer Khan Jaufer Sadik was an innocent student preparing for his A/L exams who was arrested due to alleged connections. The 4th accused then suggested that the gathering was a religious program and that Jaufer Sadik had never participated in it fully, to which the witness responded “maybe.”
The witness PW 2036, Bimshani Jasinghearachchi, who now holds the rank of DIG attended court to mark specific portions of the confessional statement given by the 12th accused, which had been temporarily marked as N1 and later permanently marked as P919 following a court order determining it was given voluntarily. The prosecution proceeded to mark 26 portions of this statement, designated as P919(1–26).
The proceedings for the day concluded at 10:00 p.m. with the next court date scheduled for 13th August, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.
