Rishad’s wife writes to President

The wife of ACMC leader and MP Rishad Bathiudeen has written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa seeking the release of her husband and his brother, both of whom were arrested recently.

In a letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Ayesha Rishad, wife of MP Bathiudeen said that her family had been undergoing agony due to the unlawful and unjustified arrest of her husband.

The letter says Bathiudeen is alleged to have been privy to calls between an Additional Secretary at the Industries Ministry then headed by Bathiudeen and 2019 April 21 bomber Inshaf Ahamed

However, Ayesha, has said that Colossus Pvt. Ltd. owned by Inshaf Ahamed had received a licence to export scrap metal only based on a meeting at the presidential secretariat.

“Nobody had any suspicion that the owner of Colossus, Inshaf Ahamed would turn out to be a suicide bomber,” she has said, insisting it is unfair to arrest Rishad Bathiudeen under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as he had cooperated with all prior investigations into the matter.

She says her husband’s brother Riyaj Bathiudeen was also arrested without any cause, despite being acquitted by the Fort Magistrate recently.