Sri Lanka Bombings: Government reveals new details about suspects

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02:28

A security shakeup in Sri Lanka, following the Easter Sunday bomb attacks. The president is demanding resignations from the defense secretary and the national police chief. The death toll keeps rising -- 359 people have been killed. Nearly 60 people have been detained for questioning. CGTN's Ravinder Bawa reports that the government is releasing new details about the suicide bombers.

Another clip of surveillance footage made its way to the local tv channels. This man, entering the lift is said to be the leader of the splinter group responsible for the attacks on Sunday. He was spotted at the breakfast buffet and soon he detonated the bomb in his backpack. The target at the hotel were foreign nationals.

RUWAN WIJEWARDENE SRI LANKAN DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER "Well here is a group, and there are quite a few individuals, and out of that, from this group, the leader of this group has committed suicide at the Shangri-la Hotel, but we are conducting investigations to find out whether there are other people who are involved in this group."

The government reveals that the alleged suicide bombers hail financially stable backgrounds and are well educated. Some of them lived here in a suburb in Colombo. These attacks have left the neighbours shocked.

MOHAMMED FAYAZ "It saddens me that Muslims who are my neighbors have done this. It puts a black spot on all of us Muslims."

VIJAYRATNE "I think these boys were brainwashed by some organization just like our Buddhist boys are being brainwashed by right wing organizations."

According to the government, the Christchurch incident motivated the alleged bombers to carry out the explosions. It still has to share their links to the Islamic state.

Wednesday witnessed three controlled explosions of suspicious object by security agencies. Security arrangements have been beefed up in vulnerable areas and Colombo looks like a fortress. Ravinder Bawa, CGTN, Colombo.