Sri Lanka bombings ringleader died in hotel attack, president says

The suspected ringleader of Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday bomb plot has been confirmed dead, President Maithripala Sirisena said.

Zahran Hashim led the attack against the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo alongside Ilham Ibrahim, the son of a wealthy spice merchant, Maithripala Sirisena said. 

At least, 250 people died in the wave of bombings on Sunday, which targeted churches and hotels in Colombo. 

Security forces had been on a desperate hunt for Hashim, believed to be around 40, after the government named the group he led - the National Thowheeth Jama'ath - as its prime suspect.

Deputy Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said that Hashim and his group of radicals had formed a splinter group as their views became more extreme.

Hashim was known to authorities for speeches posted online in which he said Islam was the only true religion and called for other religious groups to be 'eliminated'.

News of his death came as Sirisena said police were looking for 140 people believed to have links to ISIS in the wake of the bombings.