Sri Lankan Police Arrest MP Rishad Bathiudeen In Connection With 2019 Easter Sunday Terror Attacks

To speed up the investigation related to 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, Sri Lankan police on Saturday (24 April) arrested a top Muslim leader and a member of parliament.

The arrested MP, Rishad Bathiudeen who is a leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Party.

Police took him and his brother Riyaaj into custody under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), reports Times Now.

"They were arrested under the PTA based on circumstantial and scientific evidence that they had connections with the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks," police spokesperson Ajith Rohana said in a statement.

Recently, Sri Lanka banned 11 hardline Islamist organisations, including the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda, for their links to extremist activities.

279 people were killed and at least 500 injured in the Easter bombings on 21 April 2019.

This proscription of Islamist terror group and arrests of key suspects has come amid the second anniversary of the 2019 Easter bombings.

On the second anniversary of the bombings, the head of Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Malcolm, accused the government of allowing investigations to stall.