Four Janata Dal (Secular) workers, who went to Sri Lanka on a holiday on April 20, have were killed in a series of explosions on Easter Sunday.&nbsp;

They were part of a seven-member team and belonged to the Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka.

The deceased have been identified as Lakshmana Gowda Ramesh, KM Lakshminarayan, M Rangappa and KG Hanumantharayappa.

The three others who are missing are H ShivuKumar, A Maregowda and H Puttaraju.

They were reportedly staying at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo.

“Out of the seven missings after the Terror Attack, four have been declared dead. Their names are Lakshmana Gowda Ramesh, K M Lakshminarayan, M Rangappa, KG Hanumantharayappa,” said Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy in a tweet.

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I am deeply pained at the loss of our people in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/colombo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#colombo</a> attacks. Out of the seven missing after the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TerrorAttack?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TerrorAttack</a>, four have been declared dead. Their names are 
- Lakshmana Gowda Ramesh 
- K M Lakshminarayan 
- M Rangappa 
- KG Hanumantharayappa
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) <a href="https://twitter.com/hd_kumaraswamy/status/1120234013589786626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Police said 24 people have been arrested in connection with the bomb blasts.

(With inputs from agencies)

Four Janata Dal (Secular) workers, who went to Sri Lanka on a holiday on April 20, have were killed in a series of explosions on Easter Sunday. They were part of a seven-member team and belonged to the Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka.

Four Janata Dal (Secular) workers, who went to Sri Lanka on a holiday on April 20, have were killed in a series of explosions on Easter Sunday. They were part of a seven-member team and belonged to the Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka. The deceased have been identified as Lakshmana Gowda Ramesh, KM Lakshminarayan, M Rangappa and KG Hanumantharayappa. The three others who are missing are H ShivuKumar, A Maregowda and H Puttaraju. They were reportedly staying at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo. “Out of the seven missings after the Terror Attack, four have been declared dead. Their names are Lakshmana Gowda Ramesh, K M Lakshminarayan, M Rangappa, KG Hanumantharayappa,” said Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy in a tweet. I am deeply pained at the loss of our people in the #colombo attacks. Out of the seven missing after the #TerrorAttack, four have been declared dead. Their names are - Lakshmana Gowda Ramesh - K M Lakshminarayan - M Rangappa - KG Hanumantharayappa — H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) April 22, 2019 × Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Police said 24 people have been arrested in connection with the bomb blasts. (With inputs from agencies)

Four JD(S) workers killed in Sri Lanka blasts

French priest Father Jacques Hamel, who was murdered in an attack by two jihadists on his Catholic church in a Normandy town, will be laid to rest today. 
 
According to his diocese, the funeral for the 85-year-old priest will be held at the 11th-century Gothic cathedral of the northern city of Rouen, where Muslims and Christians came together to mourn his death at a mass on Sunday.&nbsp;He will then be buried in a ceremony attended only by close family members, at a location which has not been revealed. 
 
Hamel became the latest victim of a terror attack in France when two 19-year-old jihadists stormed his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray last Tuesday and slit his throat at the altar.&nbsp;Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and both were shot dead by police after a tense hostage drama in which a worshipper was left seriously wounded. Three other hostages escaped unharmed. 
 
The attack stunned France&#39;s religious communities, sparking fears of tensions in a country with a population of some five million Muslims.&nbsp;However, the two communities have largely rallied together, with churches opening their doors to Muslims on Sunday for a moving tribute to Hamel, and against radical Islam. 
 
Pope Francis said Islam could not be equated with terrorism.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s not true and it&#39;s not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism,&quot; he said, defending his decision not to name Islam when condemning the brutal murder. 
 
&quot;If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his mother-in-law, and these are baptised Catholics.&quot; 
 
The church attack came just two weeks after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a massive crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice, leaving 84 dead and injuring more than 300 people.&nbsp;The repeat attacks in France have raised tough questions about security failures, but also about the foreign funding of many mosques. 
 
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday that authorities have shut down around 20 mosques and prayer halls considered to be preaching radical Islam since December.&nbsp;&quot;There is no place ... in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques, and who don&#39;t respect certain republican principles, notably equality between men and women,&quot; the minister said. 
 
(AFP)

Father Jacques Hamel's funeral will be held at the 11th-century Gothic cathedral in the northern city of Rouen

French priest Father Jacques Hamel, who was murdered in an attack by two jihadists on his Catholic church in a Normandy town, will be laid to rest today. According to his diocese, the funeral for the 85-year-old priest will be held at the 11th-century Gothic cathedral of the northern city of Rouen, where Muslims and Christians came together to mourn his death at a mass on Sunday. He will then be buried in a ceremony attended only by close family members, at a location which has not been revealed. Hamel became the latest victim of a terror attack in France when two 19-year-old jihadists stormed his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray last Tuesday and slit his throat at the altar. Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and both were shot dead by police after a tense hostage drama in which a worshipper was left seriously wounded. Three other hostages escaped unharmed. The attack stunned France's religious communities, sparking fears of tensions in a country with a population of some five million Muslims. However, the two communities have largely rallied together, with churches opening their doors to Muslims on Sunday for a moving tribute to Hamel, and against radical Islam. Pope Francis said Islam could not be equated with terrorism. "It's not true and it's not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism," he said, defending his decision not to name Islam when condemning the brutal murder. "If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his mother-in-law, and these are baptised Catholics." The church attack came just two weeks after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a massive crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice, leaving 84 dead and injuring more than 300 people. The repeat attacks in France have raised tough questions about security failures, but also about the foreign funding of many mosques. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday that authorities have shut down around 20 mosques and prayer halls considered to be preaching radical Islam since December. "There is no place ... in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques, and who don't respect certain republican principles, notably equality between men and women," the minister said. (AFP)

Funeral to be held for French priest slain by jihadists

The second &#39;jihadist&#39; involved in a French church attack had tried to travel to Syria, prosecutors said today as calls mounted for the prime minister and interior minister to resign after the latest terror attack. 
 
The prosecutor&#39;s office said that the second killer was 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean, who was listed on France&#39;s &quot;Fiche S&quot; of people posing a potential threat to national security in June after trying to reach Syria from Turkey. 
 
Petitjean, whose face was disfigured after being gunned down by police, had been harder to identify than his accomplice Adel Kermiche, 19, and investigators confirmed his identity after a DNA match with his mother. 
 
&#39;Petitjean described perfectly normal&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Petitjean was described as perfectly normal by his incredulous family and friends. 
 
Unlike his accomplice, Petitjean never raised suspicions for radicalisation among his neighbours, and was unknown to police until last month when he tried to go to Syria. 
 
Petitjean was born to a family of Algerian origin and lived in the quiet lakeside town of Aix-les-Bains in the shadow of the Alps, popular with visitors seeking thermal cures. 
 
<img alt="" class="img-responsive" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/france-20160728104730.jpg" />

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Petitjean, whose face was disfigured after being gunned down by police, had been harder to identify than his accomplice Adel Kermiche
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The resort is 700 kilometres (430 miles) from the industrial Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray where Petitjean and Kermich stormed a church and took hostages on Tuesday. 
 
He and Kermiche, also a Frenchman born to an Algerian family, slit the 86-year-old priest&#39;s throat at the altar. Another elderly worshipper was severely injured but several other hostages escaped unharmed. 
 
Both assailants were shot dead by police. 
 
&#39;What was inside his head?&#39; 
 
Djamel Tazghat, who manages the local mosque in the Aix-les-Bains suburb where Petitjean lived in social housing, said he recognised the young man in a video published by the Islamic State group in which the two pledged allegiance to the jihadist movement. 
 
&quot;I liked him a lot. We never had a problem with him at the mosque. No strange observations, he was always smiling... It&#39;s incredible,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;All the believers are shocked because he was known for his kindness, his calm. We never had any sign of radicalisation. What was going on inside his head?&quot; 
 
Petitjean -- whose identity card was found at Kermiche&#39;s house -- had never been convicted of a crime in France so his DNA and fingerprints were not available to speed up the identification process. 
 
Sources say that after being gunned down by police, the second attacker&#39;s face was too disfigured to allow him to be clearly identified, and that his DNA had to be matched to that of his mother. 
 
He came onto the radar of French police in June after he tried to travel to Syria from Turkey, and was placed on France&#39;s &quot;Fiche S&quot; of people posing a potential threat to national security. 
 
Sources close to the investigation said Petitjean &quot;strongly resembles&quot; a man hunted by anti-terrorism police in the days before the attack over fears he was about to carry out an act of terror. 
 
The sources said France&#39;s anti-terrorism police unit UCLAT sent out a note four days before the attack -- saying it had received &quot;reliable&quot; information about a person &quot;about to carry out an attack on national territory&quot;. 
 
Three members of Petitjean&#39;s family were taken in for questioning, said a source close to the investigation. 
 
Unlike Kermiche and other jihadists carrying out recent attacks in Europe, there have been no indications that Petitjean suffered from psychological problems. 
 
 
&#39;Hard to believe&#39; 
 
After finishing high school in 2015, Petitjean&nbsp;worked part-time sales jobs and his resume said he liked science-fiction movies, video games, music and boxing. 
 
&quot;It is hard to believe. He was against Daesh. He was not radical at all,&quot; said Hakim, 17, who claimed he was Petitjean&#39;s friend. 
 
His mother, Yamina Boukessoula, refused to believe her son was involved when she spoke to AFP just hours before the official confirmation. 
 
&quot;He was a good French citizen. He is gentle. I know my child, I know my son. He was not involved at all,&quot; she said. 
 
Petitjean grew up with two sisters in a blended family. 
 
His mother said he had left their home on Monday to visit his cousin in the northeastern city of Nancy. 
 
His last text message to his mother came on Tuesday morning, just before the attack: &quot;Don&#39;t worry, everything is fine... I love you.&quot; 
 
On Wednesday afternoon his mother, still refusing to believe her son was involved, sent him a final message: &quot;Malik, it&#39;s mum, I don&#39;t know where you are. I have bad news. Call me. The police have come, they are talking rubbish. I hope nothing has happened to you my son. I love you. I miss you so much.&quot; 
 
 
&#39;Government guilty of being unable to stop attacks&#39; 
 
The attack came as the government was already facing a firestorm of criticism over alleged security failings after the Bastille Day truck massacre that left 84 dead two weeks ago. 
 
A brief show of political unity at a mass attended by different faiths in Paris on Wednesday quickly dissolved as Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve faced fresh calls to resign. 
 
&quot;If the government is not responsible for the wave of terrorism, it is guilty of not having done everything to stop it,&quot; said Laurent Wauqiez, the deputy leader of the right-wing Republicans party in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper. 
 
&quot;Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve must go because they refuse to take vital measures to fight Islamism.&nbsp;We need a new government, determined to act&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
France to form National Guard&nbsp; 
 
The French government has assured the country that everything possible is being done to protect citizens, while warning that more terror attacks are inevitable, after three major strikes and several smaller attacks in the past 18 months. 
 
President Francois Hollande confirmed today that the creation of a National Guard to be made up of reserve forces, after the government earlier urged &quot;patriots&quot; to sign up to become reservists. 
 
Hollande said parliamentary consultations on the formation of the force would take place in September &quot;so that this force can be created as fast as possible to protect the French&quot;. 
 
The government has faced tough questions as it emerged both church attackers were on the radar of intelligence services, and had tried to go to Syria. 
 
One of the criticisms is that Kermiche had been released from prison while awaiting trial on terror charges after his second attempt to travel to Syria. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

The second killer was Abdel Malik Petitjean, who was listed on France's 'Fiche S' of people posing a potential threat to national security

The second 'jihadist' involved in a French church attack had tried to travel to Syria, prosecutors said today as calls mounted for the prime minister and interior minister to resign after the latest terror attack. The prosecutor's office said that the second killer was 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean, who was listed on France's "Fiche S" of people posing a potential threat to national security in June after trying to reach Syria from Turkey. Petitjean, whose face was disfigured after being gunned down by police, had been harder to identify than his accomplice Adel Kermiche, 19, and investigators confirmed his identity after a DNA match with his mother. 'Petitjean described perfectly normal' Petitjean was described as perfectly normal by his incredulous family and friends. Unlike his accomplice, Petitjean never raised suspicions for radicalisation among his neighbours, and was unknown to police until last month when he tried to go to Syria. Petitjean was born to a family of Algerian origin and lived in the quiet lakeside town of Aix-les-Bains in the shadow of the Alps, popular with visitors seeking thermal cures. Petitjean, whose face was disfigured after being gunned down by police, had been harder to identify than his accomplice Adel Kermiche The resort is 700 kilometres (430 miles) from the industrial Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray where Petitjean and Kermich stormed a church and took hostages on Tuesday. He and Kermiche, also a Frenchman born to an Algerian family, slit the 86-year-old priest's throat at the altar. Another elderly worshipper was severely injured but several other hostages escaped unharmed. Both assailants were shot dead by police. 'What was inside his head?' Djamel Tazghat, who manages the local mosque in the Aix-les-Bains suburb where Petitjean lived in social housing, said he recognised the young man in a video published by the Islamic State group in which the two pledged allegiance to the jihadist movement. "I liked him a lot. We never had a problem with him at the mosque. No strange observations, he was always smiling... It's incredible," he said. "All the believers are shocked because he was known for his kindness, his calm. We never had any sign of radicalisation. What was going on inside his head?" Petitjean -- whose identity card was found at Kermiche's house -- had never been convicted of a crime in France so his DNA and fingerprints were not available to speed up the identification process. Sources say that after being gunned down by police, the second attacker's face was too disfigured to allow him to be clearly identified, and that his DNA had to be matched to that of his mother. He came onto the radar of French police in June after he tried to travel to Syria from Turkey, and was placed on France's "Fiche S" of people posing a potential threat to national security. Sources close to the investigation said Petitjean "strongly resembles" a man hunted by anti-terrorism police in the days before the attack over fears he was about to carry out an act of terror. The sources said France's anti-terrorism police unit UCLAT sent out a note four days before the attack -- saying it had received "reliable" information about a person "about to carry out an attack on national territory". Three members of Petitjean's family were taken in for questioning, said a source close to the investigation. Unlike Kermiche and other jihadists carrying out recent attacks in Europe, there have been no indications that Petitjean suffered from psychological problems. 'Hard to believe' After finishing high school in 2015, Petitjean worked part-time sales jobs and his resume said he liked science-fiction movies, video games, music and boxing. "It is hard to believe. He was against Daesh. He was not radical at all," said Hakim, 17, who claimed he was Petitjean's friend. His mother, Yamina Boukessoula, refused to believe her son was involved when she spoke to AFP just hours before the official confirmation. "He was a good French citizen. He is gentle. I know my child, I know my son. He was not involved at all," she said. Petitjean grew up with two sisters in a blended family. His mother said he had left their home on Monday to visit his cousin in the northeastern city of Nancy. His last text message to his mother came on Tuesday morning, just before the attack: "Don't worry, everything is fine... I love you." On Wednesday afternoon his mother, still refusing to believe her son was involved, sent him a final message: "Malik, it's mum, I don't know where you are. I have bad news. Call me. The police have come, they are talking rubbish. I hope nothing has happened to you my son. I love you. I miss you so much." 'Government guilty of being unable to stop attacks' The attack came as the government was already facing a firestorm of criticism over alleged security failings after the Bastille Day truck massacre that left 84 dead two weeks ago. A brief show of political unity at a mass attended by different faiths in Paris on Wednesday quickly dissolved as Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve faced fresh calls to resign. "If the government is not responsible for the wave of terrorism, it is guilty of not having done everything to stop it," said Laurent Wauqiez, the deputy leader of the right-wing Republicans party in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper. "Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve must go because they refuse to take vital measures to fight Islamism. We need a new government, determined to act". France to form National Guard The French government has assured the country that everything possible is being done to protect citizens, while warning that more terror attacks are inevitable, after three major strikes and several smaller attacks in the past 18 months. President Francois Hollande confirmed today that the creation of a National Guard to be made up of reserve forces, after the government earlier urged "patriots" to sign up to become reservists. Hollande said parliamentary consultations on the formation of the force would take place in September "so that this force can be created as fast as possible to protect the French". The government has faced tough questions as it emerged both church attackers were on the radar of intelligence services, and had tried to go to Syria. One of the criticisms is that Kermiche had been released from prison while awaiting trial on terror charges after his second attempt to travel to Syria. (AFP)

France church attack: Second suspect 'never raised suspicions for radicalisation'

French Prosecutor Francois Molins yesterday that one of two jihadists who attacked a&nbsp;church&nbsp;in a Normandy town, and slit a priest&#39;s throat, was 19-year-old Adel Kermiche. 
 
Adel Kermiche had been charged with terror links and held before being freed on bail, a source close to the investigation said. 
 
Both men were shot dead by police outside the church in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. 
 
The source said one of them was known to France&#39;s anti-terrorism police and had tried twice to go to Syria in 2015.&nbsp;After his release, he had to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet that allows police to locate him at all times. 
 
He had already threatened to attack a church, according to witness testimony collected in his neighbourhood. 
 
&quot;We knew he wanted to go to Syria,&quot; a 60-year-old neighbour of the assailant&#39;s family, who added that he &quot;never saw him go to the mosque&quot; that he attended. 
 
The attacker was detained the first time in Germany, while he was on his way to Syria, the source close to the probe said. He was not yet 18 years old at the time. 
 
The second time, which was after he had turned 18, he went through Switzerland, and was detained in Turkey. He was sent back to Switzerland and then France. 
 
He was charged and jailed for associating with criminals with terror links. He was then released and fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet. 
 
During Tuesday&#39;s attack on the church, 85-year-old priest Jacques Hamel had his throat slit and another parishioner was seriously wounded. 
 
&quot;He never spoke to us,&quot; said the neighbour.&nbsp;&quot;The last time I saw him was on Friday. He was playing football in his garden.&quot; 
 
Threats 
 
Another of the town&#39;s residents, a teenager who said he knew the attacker, told the RTL radio station that he was not surprised by what happened yesterday. 
 
&quot;He talked about it all the time. He spoke about Islam, that he was going to do stuff like that. He told me two months ago, &#39;I&#39;m going to do a church.&#39; I didn&#39;t believe him. He said a lot of things,&quot; said the teenager. 
 
Another resident who said he knew the attacker, however, told the same radio station, &quot;He was a young guy like us. I don&#39;t understand how he changed like that.&quot; 
 
&quot;What he did has nothing to do with Muslims, he did that of his own accord,&quot; he added. 
 
(AFP)

Adel Kermiche had tried twice to go to Syria in 2015 and had already threatened to attack a church

French Prosecutor Francois Molins yesterday that one of two jihadists who attacked a church in a Normandy town, and slit a priest's throat, was 19-year-old Adel Kermiche. Adel Kermiche had been charged with terror links and held before being freed on bail, a source close to the investigation said. Both men were shot dead by police outside the church in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. The source said one of them was known to France's anti-terrorism police and had tried twice to go to Syria in 2015. After his release, he had to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet that allows police to locate him at all times. He had already threatened to attack a church, according to witness testimony collected in his neighbourhood. "We knew he wanted to go to Syria," a 60-year-old neighbour of the assailant's family, who added that he "never saw him go to the mosque" that he attended. The attacker was detained the first time in Germany, while he was on his way to Syria, the source close to the probe said. He was not yet 18 years old at the time. The second time, which was after he had turned 18, he went through Switzerland, and was detained in Turkey. He was sent back to Switzerland and then France. He was charged and jailed for associating with criminals with terror links. He was then released and fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet. During Tuesday's attack on the church, 85-year-old priest Jacques Hamel had his throat slit and another parishioner was seriously wounded. "He never spoke to us," said the neighbour. "The last time I saw him was on Friday. He was playing football in his garden." Threats Another of the town's residents, a teenager who said he knew the attacker, told the RTL radio station that he was not surprised by what happened yesterday. "He talked about it all the time. He spoke about Islam, that he was going to do stuff like that. He told me two months ago, 'I'm going to do a church.' I didn't believe him. He said a lot of things," said the teenager. Another resident who said he knew the attacker, however, told the same radio station, "He was a young guy like us. I don't understand how he changed like that." "What he did has nothing to do with Muslims, he did that of his own accord," he added. (AFP)

One French church attacker identified, was charged for terror link

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