The bomb and the booty

Early evacuation of passengers from a bus running from Moratuwa to Colombo prevented many lives being lost but there are two claimants for the kudos for spotting the bomb and sounding a warning.

Recognised by the Police for the timely alert is Indrani Fernando, a resident of Mount Lavinia. She even received a telephone call from President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He told her a new scheme would be devised shortly to reward those who helped the authorities in such instances by staying vigilant.“I instinctively felt that the bag may contain a bomb and I said it aloud and quickly got off the bus,” Ms. Fernando told The Sunday Times.

She had not informed the conductor of her suspicion but on hearing her reference to a bomb, many other passengers had followed her out of the bus. However, the private coach’s driver P. Gamage and conductor L. Anura Sampath insist they were tipped off by Mervyn Fernando of Moratumulla. They say he boarded the bus long before Ms. Fernando got in.

“We stopped the bus and looked for its owner. As there was no one to claim it, we asked the passengers to get off and called the Police. Less than five minutes later, the bomb exploded,” the conductor said. Transport Minister Dulles Alahapperuma told The Sunday Times there was no decision yet as to who would be rewarded for helping avert the disaster.

“I have discussed the matter with Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and a decision on who would be rewarded would be made after it was established who provided the vital information first,” he said. A National Transport Commission official said the commission would also reward the bus crew and those passengers who were involved in the detection of the bomb after it obtained a full report on the incident.