All suspects in Sri Lanka bombings arrested or dead: Acting police chief

All suspected plotters and those directly linked to Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday bombings have either been arrested or are dead, the country`s acting police chief said on Monday.

In an audio statement circulated by the defence ministry, Chandana Wickramaratne, the acting Inspector General of Police, said security forces had also confiscated bomb-making material intended for future use by the militants involved in the attacks, which killed more than 250 people.

Sri Lankan authorities have said the bombings were believed to have been carried out by two little-known local Islamist groups, the National Tawheed Jamaath (NTJ) and Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim (JMI). Islamic State has claimed responsibility.

Since the April 21 attacks around 73 suspected members of the NTJ have been arrested and are being questioned by the CID and the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID), Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekera said.

Meanwhile, the police have recovered more than Rs 140 million in cash and other assets worth over Rs 7 billion from the Islamic State-linked Sri Lankan extremist group National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ).

The assets and the cash were found during the investigations by the CID.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has identified more than Rs 140 million cash and other assets worth over Rs 7 billion belonging to the terror group involved in the Easter Sunday attacks, Gunasekera said.

"Half of the cash has been taken under CID custody and the remainder was found deposited in several bank accounts. The CID has taken measures to suspend those accounts," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)