Colombo, May 21 (IANS). After the arrest of four suspected Sri Lankan ISIS terrorists from Ahmedabad airport, Sri Lankan intelligence agencies have started a fresh investigation into the activities of ISIS in the country.
Sources said Sri Lanka's State Intelligence has sought information from its Indian counterparts to ascertain the background of the suspects arrested in Ahmedabad and their alleged links with ISIS.
According to reports, a few days ago the four suspects – Mohammed Nusrat (33), Mohammed Farish (35), Mohammed Nafran (27) and Mohammed Rashdeen (43) had left for Chennai from Colombo. From there, they went to Ahmedabad, where they were arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday.
Reports said that the suspects were assigned the responsibility of attacking Jews, Christians, BJP and RSS members by their Pakistani handlers.
Sri Lankan Minister of Public Security Tiran Ailes told the media that Sri Lankan security agencies were closely monitoring the situation.
“We are working closely with our Indian counterparts to take all necessary measures to address any potential threat,” Ailes told the media.
It is noteworthy that five years ago, a group of Islamic State attackers carried out suicide attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter. In this, 270 people including 45 foreigners were killed and more than 500 were injured.
Weeks before these attacks, Indian intelligence agencies had alerted their Sri Lankan counterparts about plans by the Islamic State to carry out suicide attacks.
But Lankan officials ignored these warnings.
–IANS
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