US denies providing intelligence on Easter attacks
Colombo: The US has said that it did not provide Sri Lanka with advance intelligence prior to the Easter Sunday militant attacks that killed over 350 people.
This comes amidst what the Sri Lankan government minister Harsha de Silva said Monday that advance intelligence had been provided by "both India and the United States."
"We had no prior knowledge of these attacks," US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina Teplitz was quoted as saying by the CNN.
At least four Americans were killed in the attacks. She said, "the Sri Lankan government has admitted lapses in their intelligence gathering and information sharing."
When asked her about de Silva's claim, Teplitz responded, "Well I can't speak for others. I don't know what other sources of information the government of Sri Lanka might have had. I can just tell you that we had no prior knowledge."
Sri Lankan authorities have started an investigation into how warnings about possible attacks were not passed to top ministers.
Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, were involved in the massive Easter Sunday bombings and 60 people have been arrested so far for their suspected links to Sri Lanka's worst terror attack that killed at least 359 people.
Suicide bombers, believed to be members of local Islamist extremist group, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Though the National Tawheed Jamath (NJT) blamed by the Sri Lankan government has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, the Islamic State said the bombers owing allegiance to the terror group carried out the strikes.
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Goa nightclub fire: Owners Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra fled to Phuket after tragedy, say police
Panaji (PTI): Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the main accused and owners of the Goa nightclub where a massive blaze claimed 25 lives, fled to Phuket hours after the tragedy, Goa Police said on Monday.
"Goa Police have taken further steps to coordinate with the Interpol Division of the CBI to apprehend both Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra at the earliest," a senior police officer said.
A massive fire at the nightclub, some 25 kilometres away from Panaji, on late Saturday night killed 25 persons. The deceased comprised 20 employees of the nightclub and five tourists, including four from Delhi. Five injured people were undergoing treatment at the government-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).
After registering an FIR against them, a Look Out Circular was issued against them by December 7 by the Bureau of Immigration (BOI) at the request of the Goa Police.
The Bureau of Immigration at Mumbai was contacted, and it was found that both the accused had taken the 6E 1073 flight to Phuket at 5.30 am on December 7, immediately after the fire incident, which occurred around midnight, the officer said.
READ ALSO: Goa nightclub fire: Owner Saurabh Luthra expresses grief, assures management support
He said the Goa Police had immediately dispatched a team to Delhi to conduct raids on the addresses of the accused Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra.
"Since they were not available, a notice under the appropriate sections of law was pasted on the gate of their house. This shows their intent to avoid the police investigation", he said.
Goa Police have obtained transit remand of Bharat Kohli, an employee of the club, and are bringing him to Goa.
He also said that the postmortem on all 25 deceased has been completed and bodies handed over to their families.
