By Rathindra Kuruwita Courtesy The Island

Pulasthini Rajendran alias Sarah, the wife of Achchi Mohammdu Mohammadu Hasthun, suicide bomber, who blew himself up at St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, most likely had fled to India by sea in September 2019 and a person who helped her escape had been arrested, Chief Inspector Arjuna Maheenkanda, yesterday told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) investigating the Easter Sunday attacks.

Maheenkanda is currently attached to the Investigation Unit of the PCoI. The witness said that in October 2019, he had been detailed by the PCoI to look into what had transpired in the Eastern Province with regard to the attacks and the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) activities. He visited a number of sites and interviewed a large number of people.

The witness said that, on 6 July, 2020, he had received a tip-off from an informant, who said that Sarah, who was in the NTJ safe house in Sainthamaruthu on 26 April, 2019 had escaped and was hiding in Mankadu.

Maheenkanda said he had left for Batticaloa on 8 July 2020 to conduct further investigations.

“When we were in Batticaloa, we met another person who had seen a woman, whom he believed was Sarah. This informant said he had seen a cab parked along Batticaloa – Kalmunai main road, near Beach Road, Mankadu area around 3 a.m. on a day in September 2019. He felt suspicious and slowed down. Then he saw Sarah and two other men walking towards the Batticaloa – Kalmunai main road, from Beach Road. There was a street light there and that’s how the informant saw them. This informant had lived near Sarah’s house for a long time. He also saw that she got into the back seat of the cab parked near the road.”

Maheenkanda said that the informant had felt extremely suspicious and thus he turned the cab he was driving and drove towards the vehicle Sarah got into. When the informant drove near the cab he saw a person he recognized in the passenger seat in front.

“The informant identified this person as Abu Bakr, the OIC of the Kalawanchikudi Police Traffic Division. The informant stopped his cab on the opposite side and tried to speak to Abu Bakr.

Then the cab had sped towards Batticaloa,” the witness said. Abu Bakr was recently arrested by the Colombo Crime Division (CCD.)

Maheenkanda said that there had been information that Sarah had fled to India by boat from the Mannar area. Two persons, Sarah’s mother’s sister’s husband and his brother, had helped her escape

“One of the suspects is currently in custody. The other person has gone abroad. Investigations have also revealed that a person in the Mannar area helped her flee,” the witness said.

The Colombo Crimes Division was currently conducting further investigations, he added.