A 55-year-old registrar of marriages has been arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) for providing accommodation to the ringleader of the 2019 Easter attacks Zahran Hashim and his followers.
The Police said the suspect was arrested in Oluvil by the TID yesterday.
They said Zahran had been involved in extremist activities prior to the Easter attacks, and the TID along with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is currently investigating the incidents.
In 2017, a conflict is reported to have taken place between Zahran and a group of his followers in the Aliyar area in Kattankudy, after which he along with four others had fled to Oluvil.
Hashim and his followers are said to have been provided refuge at a house in the Oluvil area.
Investigations by the TID have found that the house belonged to a registrar of marriages from the Oluvil area, while the suspect is said to have promoted extremism since 2017 and had also provided accommodation to Zahran and his team on multiple occasions.
The Police said two of Zahran’s team members who had been provided refuge are maulavis, who are currently under the custody of the TID, while the remaining are Zaharn and Rilwan who were killed in the Easter attacks, and one other individual.
The suspect arrested yesterday has been detained at the TID office in Batticaloa, while he is to be transferred to Colombo following interrogations, after which he will be detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
The Police said the Terrorism Investigation Division and the Criminal Investigation Department are continuing probes into events that occurred prior to and after the 2019 Easter attacks. (NewsWire)