Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday accused the Pillaiyan group of masterminding Friday`s bomb blast in Colombo, which killed at least 11 and injured more than 90.

Addressing a meeting in Kandy yesterday, Wickremesinghe said that the bomb was transported to Colombo on a bike which belonged to Vijayapalan Jinendran, a member of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), who works in the Trincomalee main office.

Although the government knows that it was done by the Pillaiyan group, they still claimed that the blast was carried out by the LTTE, Wickremesinghe said.

He also claimed that after the Police learnt of this development, the Trincomalee Police had arrested the main suspect but that the Defence Ministry had intervened and instructed the Colombo Detective Bureau to handle the investigations, alleging that plans were already underway to sweep the issue under the carpet.

These investigations too will be buried, similar to that of T. Maheswaran`s case. If they wanted an independent investigation, then they should have allowed the Trincomalee Police to handle the investigations rather than interfere, Wickremesinghe added.

Wickremesinghe also claimed that Pillaiyan was appointed Chief Minister despite his slaying of two Police personnel during the elections.

Meanwhile, Police brought in 11 suspects for questioning following the blast at the Sangabodhi Viharaya in Fort on Friday.
According to Police Spokesman Senior DIG N.K. Illangakoon, it has been confirmed that the bomb was carried by a suicide cadre who arrived in a motorcycle laden with around four kilogrammes of explosives.

DIG Illangakoon further said that several suspects were being questioned with regard to the motorbike that was used by the suicide cadre, after obtaining information from the Registration of Motor Vehicles Department.
One person was arrested subsequent to questioning on suspicion.