Sri Lanka arrests 40 suspects after bombings, toll up to 310
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — As a state of emergency took effect Tuesday giving the Sri Lankan military war-time powers, police arrested 40 suspects, including the driver of a van allegedly used by the suicide bombers and the owner of a house where some of them lived.
Sri Lanka’s president gave the military a wider berth to detain and arrest suspects — powers that were used during the 26-year civil war but withdrawn when it ended in 2009.
Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said the death toll from Sunday’s attacks rose to 310.