Zahran’s father-in-law, two other suspects arrested by TID

By Norman Palihawadane

Terrorist Investigation Division sleuths had arrested the father-in-law of Easter Sunday bomber Zahran Hashim and two other suspects, Police spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said yesterday.

The TID was in the process of obtaining detention orders from a Magistrate’s courts to interrogate the suspects, the DIG said.

DIG Rohana said that the suspects aged 40, 52, and 55 years had been arrested from the Kekunagolla area in Kuliyapitiya, Kurunegala on Thursday (22).

The arrests had been made following investigations conducted by the TID into events and activities linked to the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, the Police Spokesman said.

The DIG said that the TID had arrested a large number of people for attending classes on extremism conducted by Hashim in various parts of the country.

Investigations had revealed that the classes had targeted Muslim youth especially, with many being forced to attend, the DIG said, adding the three suspects arrested on Thursday had been transferred to the TID headquarters in Colombo yesterday.

Meanwhile, the TID took another person into custody for allegedly forging passports and identity cards using the names of dead LTTE cadres.

The 42-year-old was arrested in the Vavuniya area, DIG Rohana said.

He was arrested for his alleged involvement in various criminal activities, including human trafficking.

The suspect would charged for making forged National Identity cards and passports under the name of deceased LTTE cadres, police said.