Lankan terrorists’ chilling TN links; NIA finds evidence in Coimbatore
Chennai / Colombo: Days after the deadly suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka, which killed around 360 people, it has emerged that the terrorists involved in the explosions had links with IS sympathisers in Tamilnadu.
According to sources, Indian investigating agencies had flagged videos and online speeches by the alleged mastermind of the Sri Lanka Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, Moulvi Zahran Hashim, that sought to lure and radicalise recruits.
The videos, seized from Coimbatore, showed Hashim asking youths from Sri Lanka, Tamilnadu and Kerala to establish an Islamic rule in the region.
Hashim’s videos and speeches were part of seizures made by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) during raids in Coimbatore last year. Indian agencies alerted Sri Lankan counterparts and had warned specifically about the use of radicalised suicide bombers attacking churches and the Indian High Commission in Colombo.
The alert was based on the interrogation of Islamic State suspects who were arrested in Coimbatore last year, reports said. Six members of an IS-inspired module were held by the Tamilnadu police in September on charges of plotting to assassinate Hindu leaders in the State. The probe was taken over by the NIA in October 2018.
Spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekera said police were investigating the blast on empty land behind the magistrate’s court in Pugoda, 40 km (25 miles).
“There was an explosion behind the court, we are investigating,” he said, adding it was not a controlled explosion like other blasts in recent days. Meanwhile, authorities in Sri Lanka continued their search operations with the help of army and arrested 16 more suspects in connection with the horrific blasts.
The arrested people were being interrogated at length by investigation sleuths in connection with the country’s deadliest attack.
Nine suicide bombers, believed to be the members of a local Islamist extremist group National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels.
Officials said that with the arrest of 16 more people on Wednesday, the total number of suspects under police custody has risen to 76. Many of the arrested people have suspected links to the NTJ, the group blamed for the bombings. However, the NTJ has not claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks and identified suicide bombers who carried out the devastating blasts. Authorities have deployed thousands of troops to help police carry out search operations. Over 5,000 army personnel have been deployed around the country.