A 42-year-old man deported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been arrested in the Weligama area on Sunday in connection with the Easter Sunday terror attacks, Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said yesterday.
He stated that the suspect was arrested during an operation carried out by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID).
“After the Easter Sunday terror bombings, the Police, CID and TID conducted joint investigations on the perpetrators who had directly and indirectly been involved in the incident. Accordingly, another suspect was arrested at Weligama on Sunday and brought to the TID office in Colombo.”
“This suspect had been living in the UAE over a long period and while there he had engaged in collecting funds for certain Sri Lankans to promote extremism. Further, he had been involved in spreading extremist ideologies over social media. Hence, we informed the UAE authorities regarding the suspect and accordingly, he was repatriated to Sri Lanka on March 12. On Sunday, he was arrested by the TID,” DIG Ajith Rohana explained.
A sum of Rs.2.7 million in cash and three laptops found in the suspect’s possession at the time of his arrest have also been seized.
He is a 42-year-old resident of Kirigandeniya, Mawanella, said the Police Media Spokesman. The suspect is being interrogated by the TID.
