Potta Naufer's Son Among ISIS Suspects Arrested In India

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lankan detectives have uncovered that one of the four Sri Lankans with suspected links to ISIS who was arrested in Indian earlier this week, is the son of a notorious underworld don.

The four suspects arrested by Indian detectives are:

33-year-old Mohammad Nusrat from Periyamulla, Negombo.

27-year-old Mohammad Nafran from Grandpass, Colombo.

35-year-old Mohammad Farish from Maligawatte, Colombo.

43-year-old Mohammad Rashdeen from Colombo 13.

Iterestingly, 27-year-old Mohammad Nafran has been identified as the son of Niyas Naufer aka 'Potta Naufer' the notorious underworld criminal who was sentenced to death for the killing of High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya.

Investigations have also revealed that Nafran dropped out of school, and commenced a business by traveling to India, purchasing clothing material, and returning to Sri Lanka to sell it.

In 2017, Nafran was arrested by Sri Lanka Police for a charge filed under the National Gem And Jewellery Authority Act.

In addition, detectives have uncovered that Nafran also frequented India, and Dubai for business.

Four ISIS terrorists were arrested in Ahmedabad on Monday, days after the city airport received a bomb threat. The terrorists - Sri Lankan nationals - were arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad after a tip-off.

Giving details of the operation to arrest the four ISIS terrorists, police said multiple teams were formed after the officials received the information that the suspects were planning to travel to Ahmedabad to carry out terror attacks in India.

Vikash Sahay, Director General of Police, Gujarat, said these four terrorists had boarded an IndiGo flight bound for Ahmedabad from Chennai yesterday.

He said the arrests were made after checking the list of passengers coming from the Southern region and getting their identities confirmed by officials in Colombo.

On May 12, the Ahmedabad airport received a bomb threat email which turned out to be a hoax after security personnel searched the airport complex, but nothing suspicious was found.

The threat email was sent by an unidentified person on the official email ID of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in the afternoon, following which the security personnel at the airport scanned the entire airport.

Investigation carried out by the Indian police has revealed more details.

Indian Police said the four men "had been in touch with a man named Abu in Pakistan through social media".

Indian Police added that Abu encouraged them to carry out a terror attack in India.

India's The Hindu reported that the four Sri Lankans who were arrested, belong to the National Thawheed Jamaath organization.

The National Thawheed Jamaath organization is the group that was led by Zaharan Hasheem, who carried out the brutal Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka in 2019.

Indian detectives suspect that the group may have been planning to carry out an attack at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which is hosting the IPL games.

The Indian media also reported that the ISIS terrorists planned to assassinate Senior BJP leaders Nubur Sharma, Rajah Singh, and Updesh Rana.

The Indian media reported that details with regard to these plots were uncovered when extracting information from the mobile phones used by these suspects.

Police said after scanning their mobile phones, they found photographs of some weapons and location data of Nanachiloda near Ahmedabad.

The Gujarat ATS later recovered three Pakistani pistols and 20 cartridges, as indicated in the photographs, from Nanachiloda area.

Moreover, the ISIS flag also was recovered, and the detained Sri Lankans disclosed that they were instructed to raise the flag after carrying out the attacks.

The Indian Police added that Abu encouraged them to carry out a terror attack in India, and that they were so radicalized that they also agreed to suicide bombing, as the Pakistani resident Abu also gave them 400,000 in Sri Lankan currency.

Police said after scanning their mobile phones, they found photographs of some weapons and location data of Nanachiloda near Ahmedabad.

The security at the Ahmedabad airport has been increased as the four Sri Lankan men have been detained at an undisclosed location.