Colombo | Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the head of the local Catholic church, on Monday pressed for the dismantling of what he called a "deep state" within Sri Lanka, which he alleged was responsible for preventing a credible investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

Nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ), linked to ISIS, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, killing 258 people, including 11 Indians.

Making a five-point request to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his sixth anniversary memorial address, Ranjith said: “There must be framing of laws to eliminate the operation of the deep state group." His address came as Dissanayake on Sunday said the report by a 2019 presidential panel appointed by his predecessor, Maithripala Sirisena, was referred to the CID.

Ranjith had picked a public quarrel with Sirisena's successor, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, for ignoring the panel report, which recommended criminal action against Sirisena, the defence and the intelligence hierarchy for negligence despite the availability of prior intelligence.

The catholic minority, angered by a lack of proper attention to deliver justice to victims, backed Dissanayake during last year's presidential election.

Dissanayake had pledged to uncover those responsible and announce on Monday the mastermind behind the attacks.

Ranjith urged Dissanayake to keep the pledge he made in October last year upon being elected the president.

At 8.45 a.m., churches throughout the island observed a two-minute silence in a special mass commemorating the victims.