Four arrested for promoting violent extremist ideologies

By Asiri Fernando

The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) arrested four individuals yesterday on suspicion of promoting and supporting violent extremist ideologies.

According to Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana, the TID arrested two suspects, a 31-year-old resident of Wellampitiya and a 30-year-old resident of Thihariya, for sharing violent extremist ideological material of 2019 Easter Sunday bomber Zaharan Hashim.

The Police alleged that both suspects shared and broadcasted extremist material via WhatsApp and social media while they were in Qatar.

“Both suspects were employed in Qatar and they were sharing these extremist ideologies. Following a complaint made by us, they were deported from Qatar on 21 November 2020. We suspect that one of the two individuals were responsible for uploading the video of Zaharan Hashim and the bombers taking a pledge to carry out violence to the internet and social media, a day after the Easter Sunday bombings,” DIG Rohana said, adding that the two were detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). 

Attempts to reach DIG Rohana, regarding why there was a delay of several months between the repatriation of a suspect involved in the Easter Sunday bombing and his arrest, failed. 

Another two suspects, 37-year-old and 38-year-old residents of Muttur, were arrested by the TID for allegedly facilitating and supporting Hashim’s followers to conduct lectures promoting fundamentalist and extremist ideologies among students who had completed GCE Ordinary Level examinations during the latter stages of 2018. 

The suspects from Muttur are also being held on detention orders under the PTA.

Public Security Minister Admiral (Retd.) Sarath Weerasekara and senior officials of the Bureau of the Commissioner-General of Rehabilitation recently said that the Government was preparing to move some suspects who held violent extremist views into a rehabilitation program.