87 bomb detonators found by Sri Lankan Police in Colombo's Central bus stand day after serial bomb blasts

In a major development in the probe following the eight Easter Sunday serial blasts which rocked Sri Lanka on Sunday, Sri Lankan police, on Monday, has found 87 bomb detonators in Colombo's Central bus stand, as per reports.

This news comes mere hours after Sri Lanka's cabinet Spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne said that the coordinated explosions, which killed 290 and injured over 450 people, were carried out with the help of an international network.

He said, "We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country. There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded."

Sri Lankan government has also imposed a conditional state of emergency starting from midnight on Monday, while Tuesday would be observed as a national day of mourning, as per reports. This decision was reportedly taken in a National security council meeting on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Sri Lankan police had arrested 24 suspects in connection with the blasts.

The number of arrests on the incidents has now gone up to 24 and they have been transferred into the custody of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for further investigations, Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera was quoted as saying by the local TV.

Sri Lanka Air Force has said it found an improvised explosives device along a road leading to the departure terminal at the Colombo international airport Sunday night. 

"It was a crude six- foot pipe bomb that was found by the roadside," an air force spokesman, adding "We have removed it and safely defused it at an air force location." 

It was reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath), a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka, as per PTI reports.

READ| Sri Lanka Serial Bombings Carrier Out With Help Of International Network: Sri Lanka Government Cabinet Spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne. Details Here

Interpol, the Paris-based organisation which facilitates worldwide police cooperation, said it is ready to offer full support to the Sri Lankan authorities in investigating the country's deadliest terror attack, tweeting a message of support.

The blasts targeted St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and another church in the eastern town of Batticaloa as the Easter Sunday mass were in progress. Three explosions were reported from the five-star hotels - the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand, and the Kingsbury. Foreigners and locals who were injured in hotel blasts were admitted to the Colombo General Hospital.