The Hindu : Front Page : Colombo suicide bomber on videotape

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Sunday, Dec 02, 2007
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Colombo suicide bomber on videotape

Chilling sequence from Douglas Devananda’s outer office shows nonplussed attacker

— IMAGES: Sri Lanka Police via AP Television.

DEATHLY SEQUENCE: Top left, Sujatha Vagawanam is seated in front of Public Relations Officer Steven Peiris. Next she stands up and lifts her hand to her shoulder. The explosion is set off.

Colombo: The suicide bomber who tried to assassinate Sri Lankan Social Services and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda on the morning of November 28 here had looked unperturbed in the minutes before blowing herself up, a chilling videotape showed.

The images captured by the monitoring cameras in the Minister’s outer office showed the young woman, suspected to be an operative of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in full control of herself while crossing the initial security layer.

“I was just about 25 to 30 feet from the suicide bomber and I am used to such attempts being made on me,” Mr. Devananda had said after the incident.

Wearing a yellow sari and a white shawl, 24-year-old Sujatha Vagawanam from Vavuniya was seen answering questions and approaching the Public Relations Officer in the small waiting room, seeking an audience with the Minister.

According to officials, she had probably hidden the detonator and explosives in her inner clothes.

The video released by the police showed the bomber’s last moments and the aftermath of the attack. Steven Peiris (72), the Public Relations Officer, seemed firm in asking her to get herself frisked before going into Mr. Devananda’s chamber. He was seen gesturing to her to sit down on one of several plastic chairs, apparently to await a security check. But she soon stood up facing Peiris, and lifted her right hand to her right shoulder to touch something. There followed a blinding explosion. Peiris and the bomber were both thrown back and killed.

The others in the room ran in different directions. Some fell over the chairs. A cloud of smoke hung in the air.

The explosion left two security personnel and three visitors injured. It was ‘Public Day,’set apart for people to submit complaints. — PTI

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