Colombo (LNW): Colombo Additional Magistrate Pasan Amarasinghe yesterday (16) ordered the remand of six individuals allegedly linked to the April 2019 Easter Sunday massacre until they receive guidance from the Attorney General.
These suspects are believed to have had connections with businessman Ahmed Luqman Talib, who has been identified as a facilitator for al-Qaeda.
The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) is acting on information from Interpol, which found from phone records that these suspects communicated with Talib. International Police (INTERPOL) have also identified links between Talib and seven Maldivian and two Australian nationals.
The TID is seeking permission to detain three suspects for questioning and aims to obtain statements from three others currently in prison.
Talib, who was arrested in 2021 by Australia for funding Al-Qaeda, also operated a gemstone trading company in Sri Lanka named Right Gems. The U.S. sanctioned him in 2020 for his financial ties to Al-Qaeda.
The TID will continue its investigation under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) based on the evidence from over 700 phone calls.
