Heena Sharma Blog

An India-based photo journalist, who was in Sri Lanka to cover the aftermath of Easter Sunday bombings , was arrested by Sri Lankan police for alleged unauthorised entry into a school. Siddiqui Ahamad Danish, who works for Reuters news agency and is based in New Delhi, was arrested when he allegedly attempted to forcibly enter a school in Negombo city to speak to its authorities. He was arrested on the charges of unauthorised entry and was later remanded by the Negombo magistrate till May 15, police said. According to local media reports, the journalist, had attempted to enter the school to obtain information regarding a student killed in the bombing of St Sebastian's Church when parents who were at the school at the time alerted the police. The journalist was temporarily here for the coverage of the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings that killed over 250 people and wounded nearly 500 others. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

A blast was heard on Thursday from vacant land behind the magistrates court in the town of Pugoda, 40 km (25 miles) east of the capital Colombo, police and local residents said. Police said they were investigating the explosion, which came at a time of high tension in Sri Lanka following the Easter Sunday suicide bomber attacks on the island state that killed 359 people and wounded about 500. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Sri Lanka observed a nationwide three-minute silence Tuesday to pay homage to more than 300 people killed in the gruesome Easter Sunday bombings, the country's worst terror attack blamed on a local previously little-known Islamist outfit. National flags were lowered and people bowed their heads as the silence began at 8:30 am local time, the time the first of the attacks occurred on Sunday. "We have declared today a day of national mourning, we urge people to raise a white flag in honour of the victims," said Kamal Padmasiri, Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs. He said a 3-minute silence was observed nationwide and the national flag will be flown at half-mast. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the death toll in a series of devastating blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka had risen to 310. "The death toll has now gone up to 310", Gunasekera said. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard