Katuwapitiya bomber's hideout located and searched

Colombo (News 1st): A search operation was conducted in the Horombawa area in Narammala, Kurunegala today (May 1). The operation was carried out based on details disclosed by suspects currently in the custody of security forces. The group of officials from the Criminal Investigations Department searched a house in Putiyawatte in Narammala. The search operation was carried out based on the information provided by Mohamed Anwar Mohamed Rizwan - the brother-in-law of the suicide bomber responsible for the attack at the Katuwapitiya Church. It was revealed that the suspect has resided in this particular house the night before the attacks. Following a search using the Police canine unit, the Special Task Force seized Rs. 1.9 million in cash hidden in a marsh close-by. Interestingly, the money was in stacks of Rs. 5000 notes. The police also found a mobile phone battery and phone charger hidden in the roof of the house next-door. A further search of the adjacent marshy land done by the police and the area residents resulted in the discovery of a parcel containing a bullet used for training, 03 detonators and wires and 38 grams of explosives. News 1st correspondent in the area said two backpacks similar to those used by the suicide bombers were also discovered in the raid. Another search operation was carried out in a paddy field in Edandawala, Kuliyapitiya, based on the information from the interrogation of the suspects. A hidden motorbike was seized and the security forces suspect that it was used during the Easter Sunday terror attacks.