An act of any civilized world would be to condemn the Easter Sunday blasts that claimed the lives of over 300 innocent civilians and injured over 450 others, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said.

One of the suicide bombers, who carried out the Easter Sunday attacks, had been released from police custody a few months back due to pressure from a powerful politician, Minister Kabir Hashim revealed, yesterday.

The fire which ravaged France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral received seven times more searches on Google than the bombings which rocked Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday and killed nearly 300 people.

Six more individuals including Singer Amal Perera who were arrested along with notorious drug kingpin Makandure Madush in Dubai were deported this morning, police spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekera said.

Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando said yesterday the Defence Ministry never expected an attack of this magnitude except for some isolated incidents in certain places.

Sri Lanka said on Monday it was invoking emergency powers in the aftermath of devastating bomb attacks on hotels and churches, blamed on militants with foreign links, in which 290 people were killed and nearly 500 wounded.

A controlled explosion has been reported near St. Anthony’s church in Kochchikade a short while ago.

87 detonators had been found yesterday at the Bastian Mawatha Bus Station and in a garbage dump in the area this afternoon by the Police officers in Colombo Fort, Police said.

The government has decided to gazette the sections dealing with prevention of terrorism under emergency regulations from midnight today.

The government has decided to declare 23rd April a national day of morning in remembrance of the series of fatal explosions which shook the country on Easter Sunday (21).

Denmark’s richest man Anders Holch Povlsen and his wife lost three of their four children in the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka, a spokesman for Povlsen’s fashion firm said on Monday.

The police curfew will be imposed across the island from 8.00 pm tonight to 4.00 am tomorrow, the government announced today.

According to the General Secretary of Parliament, a special party leaders meeting is set to be held today at 2 pm.

The Government Analyst’s Department has confirmed that the attack on the three churches and the hotels in Colombo had been carried out by suicide bombers.

Sri Lanka Police says that 24 suspects have been arrested so far in connection with the series of explosions in the county yesterday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said several U.S. citizens died in the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka.