Hand grenade found in church: Police reveal more details

January 12, 2022 at 6:02 PM

A 56-year-old employee of the All Saints’ Church in Borella has been identified as the key suspect involved in setting up a hand grenade at the church premises yesterday.

Police spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said he was among four suspects who had been arrested in connection to the incident last evening.

The hand grenade had been found by a statue inside the church. It had been set up using sellotape, rubberbands, matchsticks, and incense sticks in order for it to catch fire and explode.

SSP Thalduwa said investigations have found that a resident of Maradana who had served as an employee at the church had set up the hand grenade.

Upon interrogations, it has been revealed that the suspect had used a 13-year old boy residing close to the church and who frequently visits the premises to place the explosive in the said area.

The suspect is said to have had links with the church over the last 16 years and had resided in the church premises over the last 09 months.

Further investigations have led the Police to recover parts of the sellotape, rubberbands, matchsticks, and incense sticks that were used to set up the grenade from the suspect’s living quarters.

The Colombo Crimes Division is conducting investigations to ascertain the reason for the suspect to act in such a manner and to find out how the man had obtained the hand grenade. (NewsWire)