It is revealed how Jameel, who failed to detonate the Taj on the day of the Easter attack and later committed suicide, called Salei on the phone.

Recently, several important facts were revealed at the Fort Magistrate's Court regarding the investigations into the Easter Sunday terrorist attack. There, Additional Solicitor General, President's Counsel Dilipa Peiris, appearing for the investigators from the Attorney General's Department, stated, quoting a statement by Azath Maulana, that Thuan Suresh Sale had made a phone call to Azath Maulana on the day of the attack.

Through that phone call, he had frantically requested to take the phone of a person on the beach near the Galle Face Taj Samudra Hotel, assist him, and drop him off at a specific location. When Maulana said he was in Batticaloa, Suresh Sale disconnected the call. Mr. Dilipa Peiris confirmed to the court that the person in question was Abdul Latheef Jameel, who died after detonating a bomb at the Dehiwala Tropical Inn lodge. Furthermore, it was also stated in court that Mr. Varuna Jayasundara, the current Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police for the Eastern Province, who was then the Director of the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), had provided reports during that period stating that Jameel was not a terrorist.

Regarding Abdul Latheef Jameel, Mr. Nilantha Jayawardena, the former Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), had sent a detailed letter to the then Inspector General of Police, Mr. Pujith Jayasundara, on November 08, 2017. It revealed that Jameel was strongly inclined towards the IS ideology, had connections with Mohammed Muhusin Nilam, the first Sri Lankan IS member who died in Syria on April 12, 2015, and had traveled to Turkey on November 12, 2014. Furthermore, the intelligence report clearly stated that he was spreading IS ideology among youth in Colombo, rejecting Western food and clothing, and that there was a risk of an attack targeting non-Muslims.

Based on this information, on November 09, 2017, the Inspector General of Police assigned the investigations not to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) but to the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID). Investigations were carried out under the then head, Deputy Inspector General of Police Nalaka Silva, and on April 12, 2018, Jameel was summoned to the relevant division and a statement was recorded. There, he stated that although he liked Sharia law, he was not connected to the IS organization and had gone to Turkey for an exhibition with his brother.

Subsequently, Mr. Varuna Jayasundara, who was appointed as the TID Director, reported to the Inspector General of Police on March 06, 2019, and again a few days before the attack, on April 08, 2019, that Jameel was not an extremist and that he lived peacefully and cordially with his wife, children, and neighbors. However, at the time these reports were submitted, Jameel and his associates were already manufacturing bombs, and the Easter attack was carried out within a few days of the report being submitted.

On the day of the attack, Jameel first stayed at the Taj Samudra Hotel and planned an attack there, but it was thwarted because the bomb did not detonate. Afterwards, following a call he received on his phone, he left the hotel, placed his bag at the Tropical Inn lodge, and went to the Ebenezer Muslim Mosque located near Azath Maulana's house. While there, upon exiting, he was checked by a former police officer named Ameer, who also made a phone call to Jameel's wife to confirm information. Subsequently, Jameel returned to the Tropical Inn lodge, detonated the bomb, and died.

It has not yet been definitively revealed who called Jameel before he left the Taj Samudra Hotel, or his purpose for going to the Ebenezer Mosque. Furthermore, although the series of attacks across the island were investigated by the CID, the investigation into the Tropical Inn incident involving Jameel was carried out by the TID itself. The disappearance of crucial footage from the CCTV system installed at Jameel's house, covering the period from when Jameel left his house until intelligence officers arrived there after the TID took the system, has created a highly problematic situation regarding the investigation process.

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