The mastermind of the Easter Sunday terror attacks in April 2019 was not the banned National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ) or its leader Zahran Hashim, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader Rauff Hakeem said.
Hakeem told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) appointed to probe the Easter attacks that the NTJ and Hashim were not directly connected to the ISIS.
Testifying before the Commission he said the mastermind of the attacks was a different group that wanted to destroy and destabilize the country, adding that they had achieved their objective.
“Zahran and the NTJ were hired as pawns by this group and the ISIS banner was used only as a front. This is a one-off incident’, he said.
When asked to reveal the identity of the group, Hakeem had said he will reveal the name in the absence of media.
He further denied that the SLMC had any political links with the NTJ or Zahran Hashim.
When inquired on a clash between Hakeem and Zahran’s brother Rilwan Hashim during a visit to an NTJ mosque subsequent to the 2015 general elections, Hakeem said he had visited the Kattankudy hospital to inquire on the wellbeing of those who were injured in the clash and had also visited the NTJ Mosque to inspect the damages caused in the clash during which Zahran had been present. (NewsWire)
