EASTER SUNDAY TERROR ATTACK PROBE: FORMER MINISTER TO BE HELD FOR 90 DAYS

COLOMBO: Former Sri Lankan minister Rishad Bathiyudeen and his brother, who were arrested for their alleged role in aiding and abetting the suicide bombers responsible for the deadly 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, will be detained for a further 90 days under the antiterrorism law, police said on Tuesday.

Rishad, a former minister of industry and commerce and the leader of a minority Muslim party that is part of the main opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), and his brother Riyaj Bathiudeen were arrested on April 24 from their respective residences.

“They were arrested after the scrutiny of bank accounts, cheque transactions and communication lines,” the senior deputy inspector general and the police spokesman Ajith Rohana said.

Rohana said the police investigations had focused on the close contacts of the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks at luxury hotels in Colombo and three churches in which 274 people were killed. “Some of them had maintained close contacts with the bombers,” Rohana said.

A total of 702 persons were in custody with 202 of them being remanded. 83 more are being detained for questioning at the police’s CID and the terrorism investigation division, he said.