A Sri Lankan court has ordered a DNA test before May 15 to verify the death of Mohamed Cassim Zahran, the ring leader of the local Islamist extremist group NTJ which the Government blamed carried out the devastating Easter Sunday bombings killing over 250 people.
Zahran, the mastermind behind the Easter blasts, led the attack on the Shangri-La hotel and was accompanied by a second bomber identified as Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim. He was killed inside the hotel where he blew himself up. The Colombo Fort Magistrate also ordered the Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid (DNA) verification of Ibrahim, the second bomber. Nine suicide bombers carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels on April 21, killing more than 250 people and injuring 500 others.