Insurance company Ceylinco General Insurance has paid US$ one million to Shangri-La hotel, Colombo.
The payment was finalized as an advance payment to commence the repairs necessary for the hotel just four days after the hotel was damaged in the devastating attack that targeted churches and high-end hotels in Sri Lanka.
Officials from Ceylinco General Insurance visited Shangri-La hotel within a day of the attack and assessed the damages received by the hotel. It has been reported that the advance payment was finalized even before the formal investigation report was issued in order to expedite the repairs. The full extent of the damages will be inspected and assessed at a later time.
While a country-wide search is ongoing to identify the perpetrators behind the attack, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe earlier stated that the country is still reeling after the attacks. While obscure group supporting religious extremism ‘National Tawhid Jamaat’ has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the Sri Lankan government has expressed the likelihood of the involvement and expertise of foreign networks, specifically, the Islamic State (IS) based in Syria and Iraq.
A special force of over 10,000 officers have been tasked with identifying the criminals behind the attack, and over 80 people have been arrested thus far in connection to the blasts which claimed the lives of 253 people. Local mosques in Sri Lanka were urged not to conduct Friday prayers at the mosques for the fear of attacks this Friday, however, most mosques performed the prayer with added security.
President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena recently stated to the media that over 130 individuals who support the ideologies of IS are active in Sri Lanka, out of which 70 are in hiding.
