The Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamaath (SLTJ) provided information to intelligence agencies regarding the activities of Zahran Hashim and his associates, SLTJ President A.K. Hisham told the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks yesterday.
By Sandun Jayawardana
The Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamaath (SLTJ) provided information to intelligence agencies regarding the activities of Zahran Hashim and his associates, SLTJ President A.K. Hisham told the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks yesterday.
Mr Hisham stated that they had provided information to army intelligence about one and a half month before the Easter Sunday attacks that Zahran was traveling in a Prado vehicle and holding secret meetings in Nintavur, Akkaraipattu. At the time, he was still evading arrest over his role in a clash with Sufi Muslims in Kattankudy in March, 2017.
“We were given the information of Zahran's secret meetings in Nintavur by one of our SLTJ members there. I then gave the information to an army intelligence operative. We even found and provided the mobile number of Zahran’s brother Zaini to intelligence agencies,” he told the PSC.
The SLTJ President further said that they had provided information regarding Zahran’s extremist views to intelligence agencies even before that. “The CID and TID also came to us for information. In 2017, we gave them, CDs containing extremist speeches Zahran made where he called for the establishment of an Islamic State in Sri Lanka and also the killing of non-Muslims,” he claimed.
He also refuted claims that Zahran had any connections with the SLTJ. "There is a wrong impression that he formed the National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) after breaking away from the SLTJ. This is 100 percent wrong. Zahran formed the NTJ after being expelled from another organizations named Dharul Adhar. Only Zahran and members of his family posed as Thowheed. Most of the other bombers had not even been to a Thowheed Mosque."
“We are the ones who fought against extremism. We are the ones who supported the Government and its intelligence agencies. Yet, we are now branded as extremists,” he lamented.
When questioned as to whether he believed intelligence agencies and law enforcement authorities did not do enough regarding the information they gave, Mr Hisham said that while some efforts were made, they were clearly not enough.
“The police could have at least distributed his photograph around police stations in the country. Even some people who rented out properties to Zahran did not know who he was. CCTV footage of even a small robbery are released to the media asking people to be vigilant regarding the suspects. Why couldn’t such a thing have been done about Zahran?” he queried.
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