Easter Sunday blast: Muslim MP arrested in Sri Lanka
Police have arrested a member of parliament and a Muslim leader in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings in Sri Lanka.
Two years ago, 279 people were killed in Easter Sunday suicide bombings.
According to foreign news agency Al Jazeera, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said that intelligence officials had detained Baituddin, the leader of the All Saloon McCall Party, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) on Saturday.
A police spokesman said Baituddin and his brother Riaz were arrested in the morning from their residence in Colombo.
“He was arrested on the basis of scientific evidence under the Prevention of Terrorism Act because he had links to suicide bombers,” Rohana said in a statement.
It should be noted that three days ago, Cardinal Malcolm, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, had alleged that the Sri Lankan government had stopped the investigation, after which the arrest was made.
The Sri Lankan government detained about 200 people immediately after the suicide attacks on hotels and churches, but no one has been charged so far.
Although none of the 200 detainees have been indicted, 16 of them were indicted on Tuesday for allegedly desecrating Buddhist statues in December 2018.