Sri Lanka's Catholic Church will televise a private Sunday mass after cancelling regular services over fears of a repeat of Easter's suicide bombings, even as police and troops tightened security. Father Edmund Tillakaratne said public masses were suspended for a second week amid fears of a repeat jihadi strike, but a service conducted by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith will be broadcast on national television.
Police, meanwhile, said they were stepping up search operations over the weekend ahead of a planned re-opening of over 10,000 public schools after an extended Easter vacation. Some 257 people were killed in a string of suicide bombings against three churches and three luxury hotels on April 21.
"We will not allow any parking near public schools from Sunday afternoon," police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said. "Search operations will be intensified as part of tighter security." Police and troops across the country had recovered small quantities of explosives, guns, swords, daggers and kris knives, Gunasekera said. "We will grant a two-day amnesty for people to surrender such weapons," he added.
Despite the tight security, Catholic churches will remain shut on Sunday, a spokesman said, adding that a private mass will be telecast live from the residence of the Archbishop. "It will be like last Sunday when we had a service at Archbishop's chapel and telecast it live," spokesman Edmond Tillakaratne told AFP.