Police filed request to detain Rishad & brother for 90 days

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka Police forwarded an application to the Ministry of Defence to detain and interrogate Ex-Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and his brother Riyadh Bathiudeen for a period of 90-days.

The MP and his brother were arrested on Saturday (24th April) and are detained by the Criminal Investigations Department. Sri Lanka Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana speaking to News 1st said Ex-Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and his brother Riyadh Bathiudeen are interrogated by the CID and they were arrested on the charges of aiding and abetting the 2019 April 21st Attackers. Detectives focused their attention on the funding received by the suicide bombers and investigations revealed that certain individuals were identified to have aided and abetted the suicide bombers, he said on Saturday (24). “Witness statements, material evidence, circumstantial evidence, scientific evidence as well as technical evidence including financial statements were used in the investigations to identify those who aided the suicide bombers,” said DIG Ajith Rohana. Thus, the Ex-Minister and his brother were arrested for aiding and abetting after carefully analyzing the evidence material, said DIG Ajith Rohana on Saturday (24). The CID and TID investigations were not only based on the 2019 April 21st Attacks, but also on the events that led to the attacks as well those connected to the attackers. “Detectives are also investigating incidents of propagating extremism dating back to 2017/18,” said the Deputy Police Chief adding that 697 people were arrested by investigators. Following the arrests of Ex-Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and his brother Riyadh Bathiudeen, a total of 702 people were arrested by detectives concerning extremism and related activities.