By KUNA
New Delhi : In a major terror attack suspected to have been carried out by LTTE, Sri Lankan Highways Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and ten people were killed in a powerful bomb explosion near capital Colombo Sunday.
Fernandopulle was attending a tradtional New Year festival in Sri Lankas Western district of Grampaha, 20 kilometers outside Colombo, at the time of the attack early on Sunday, news agencies reported.
The mininister was about to flag off a marathon race when the bomb went off, the news agencies reported.
Nearly 50 people have been injured in the explosion and have been hospitalised, the news agencies said.
The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry has blamed rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the attack. “Jeyaraj Fernandopulle was also among the many killed in the cowardly LTTE attack among a large gathering,” the Defence Ministry said.
Sri Lankan officials suspect that the attack was carried out by a LTTE suicide bomber.
Fernandopulle was a close associate of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and also the chief government whip in Parliament. He was also the treasurer and chief organiser of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
The killed Minister was an ardent critic of the LTTE. He was also part of the government team, which had conducted peace talks with the rebel group.
This is the second high profile killing this year in the island nation. On January eight, former Sri Lankan minister for nation building, DM Dassanayake, was killed in a bomb attack.