Remains of those killed in 2019 Sainthamaruthu blasts to be exhumed

The Kalmunai Magistrate’s Court has granted permission to exhume the remains of those who were killed in the 2019 bomb explosion in Sainthamaruthu for re-examination of DNA.

Accordingly, the remains buried at the Ampara cemetery will be unearthed tomorrow morning (April 27).

By re-examining the DNA, the investigators intend to find out whether the remains of Pulasthini Mahendran alias Sara Jasmine, a converted Islamic extremist and part of Zahran Hashim’s terror group, are among those who died inside the Sainthamaruthu safe house raided on the 26th of April 2019.

Sara Jasmine is the wife of Atchchi Muhammadu Muhammadu Hasthun, the attacker who targeted the Katuwapitiya St. Sebastian Church in the string of bomb blasts on the 21st of April in 2019.

The exhumation process will be carried out in the presence of the Ampara magistrate and the participation of the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) and other police officers who were involved in the initial investigations, as well as the government analysts.

Days after the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks, several including children were killed in a bomb explosion inside a house at Sainthamaruthu in Kalmunai on the 26th of April. The bomb was detonated by one of the brothers of Zahran Hashim, identified as Mohamed Rilwan.

Although it was observed during investigations that a total of 17 people had died in the explosion, none of the DNA samples from the bodies of the deceased had matched the sample from Pulasthini’s mother.