New Delhi : Nearly seven years after the devastating 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 270 people, including 11 Indians, and injured more than 500 others, a Sri Lankan court has convicted 15 of 24 accused and sentenced each to 220 years in prison. A three-member Colombo High Court bench comprising Justices Navaratne Marasinghe, Ramanathan Kannan and Sujeewa Nissanka found the 15 accused guilty in the case, while nine others were acquitted. The verdict follows a trial that lasted nearly five years and involved 23,270 charges and testimony from 2,309 witnesses.

The convicted men were accused of offences including murder and attempted murder, conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks, and the possession and use of weapons and explosives under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act. The case relates to the April 21, 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, when nine suicide bombers linked to the Islamic State-associated local extremist group National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) carried out coordinated explosions targeting three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels. The attacks killed 270 people and injured more than 500, shocking Sri Lanka and the wider region. The court also convicted alleged key accused Naufar Moulavi.

NTJ leader Zahran Hashim was identified as the leader of the suicide attackers and was among those who died in the bombings. The attacks also triggered intense political controversy in Sri Lanka over allegations that authorities failed to act on prior intelligence warnings. During the subsequent investigation, five suspects linked to the case were reportedly brought back from the United Arab Emirates. The latest court ruling marks a significant judicial development in the long-running case, while questions surrounding the wider circumstances of the attacks and accountability for security failures have remained subjects of investigation and public debate.

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