Sri Lanka Suicide Bombers Included Two Sons of a Spice Tycoon (Published 2019) - The New York Times

By Jeffrey Gettleman Dharisha Bastians and Kai Schultz

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — He built his fortune on black pepper, white pepper, nutmeg, cloves and vanilla. His family lived in a beautiful white villa and traveled in a chauffeured BMW. He was feted by Sri Lanka’s former president for “outstanding service provided to the nation.”

But on Wednesday the narrative of Mohammad Yusuf Ibrahim, one of Sri Lanka’s wealthiest spice traders, was ripped apart. Officials revealed he was in custody in connection with the devastating suicide attacks on Easter Sunday that killed hundreds of people.

An Indian official said that two of Mr. Ibrahim’s sons, who have been identified in Indian media reports as Inshaf and Ilham, were among the eight suicide bombers who struck at hotels and churches across this island. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, and investigators said Mr. Ibrahim was being extensively interrogated.

[ Sri Lankan officials warn of possible attacks on Sufi Muslims .]

During a raid Sunday at his family’s villa near Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, a female suspect blew herself up in front of two of her children, killing them all, along with several police officers who were closing in, investigators said. The Indian official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of a major terrorism investigation, said the woman who killed herself and her children was most likely the wife of one of Mr. Ibrahim’s sons.

Sri Lankan officials have been reluctant to identify the suicide bombers, saying that could hamper their investigation.

But at a news conference on Wednesday, Ruwan Wijewardene, Sri Lanka’s minister of defense, said most of the bombers had been well educated and had come from middle-class or upper-class families.

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