Security and surveillance at the Bandaranaike International Katunayake Airport have been stepped up after the International Police Agency (Interpol) alerted the authorities that a militant linked to a plot to carry out an attack during the Cricket World Cup had been in Colombo.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials both confirmed to the Sunday Times that security had been increased after the arrest of a militant travelling from Karachchi to the Maldives.
“The arrested person had been in Sri Lanka and was on his way to the Maldives, and we alerted the Maldives,” said Senior Superintendent of Police M. K. D. W. Amarasinghe. He said security had been stepped up at the cricket grounds as well.
Sri Lanka Cricket Security Chief Lawrence Fernando said, “We have so far ensured incident-free matches, and we will ensure the semi-finals will also be incident-free. We have been closely working with the Police to maintain security.”
Sri Lanka has so far hosted 10 World Cup matches.
Earlier this week, Ronald K. Noble, head of the France-based international police agency told reporters in Islamabad that they were able to identify, locate and arrest a militant, thanks to the cooperation of Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Maldives. |
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