By NNN-PTI,
Colombo : Two time bombs planted in public transport buses were defused by security personnel in Sri Lanka on Saturday, averting possible tragedy in the insurgency-hit nation which has witnessed bomb attacks on buses in the past.
Sri Lanka Police Special Task Force bomb disposal team defused a time bomb weighing 1.25 kg in a passenger bus at Kossinna in western Ganemulla.
According to defence sources, the conductor of the bus who initially detected the unclaimed parcel threw it out of the bus at a remote location.
He then informed police about the suspected packet, the sources said.
The bomb was found in a bus that was due to leave Colombo for Parakandeniya.
The sources said there were no passengers in the bus when the conductor detected the suspected parcel under one of the seats.
Hours later, army bomb disposal team defused another time bomb weighing about three kg in a bus near Moratuwa town, 20 kms north of Colombo, the government’s Media Centre for National Security said.
The squad rushed to the spot after a woman passenger spotted the bomb.
Sri Lanka has witnessed several bomb attacks by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels on buses, including one last month that killed 25 people.