KINOLEE PERERA
COLOMBO : No links to the terrorist organisation Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have been uncovered in Sri Lanka thus far, according to Police Media Spokesman and DIG Police Crime Range Nihal Thalduwa.
“Unless this investigation reveals such links, no links to ISIS have been discovered in Sri Lanka yet,” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, following the arrest of four Sri Lankan individuals in India earlier in the week, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appointed a special investigation team to probe the situation regarding the suspects.
When contacted by The Sunday Morning, Thalduwa said that investigations into the bomb threat at Ahmedabad Airport in India were underway, although he did not elaborate further on the state of the investigations.
However, he added that the committee conducting the investigation was being supervised by a Senior DIG.
Thalduwa further said that, as it was Sri Lankan citizens who had been arrested, they had a responsibility to uncover the intention and situation regarding the bomb threat.
The four suspects were arrested in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad by India’s anti-terror Police.
According to reports, the individuals were 33-year-old Mohammed Nusrat from Periyamulla, Negombo; 27-year-old Mohammed Nafran and 35-year-old Mohammed Faaris from Maligawatta, Colombo; and Mohammed Rashdeen from Colombo 13.
The city airport had received the bomb threat on 12 May and the four men, with suspected links to ISIS, were arrested on Monday (20).
One of the suspects, namely Mohammad Nafran, was identified as the son of Niyas Naufer, or ‘Potta Naufer’ – an infamous underworld criminal who was sentenced to death for the killing of a High Court Judge in July 2005.
Further investigations revealed that Nafran had dropped out of school and conducted a clothing business by purchasing clothing material in India and selling it in Sri Lanka.
Currently, no insights have been shared into the reasoning and intention behind the four individuals’ actions.-Sunday Morning
