NTJ's 'Colombo organizer' remanded till May 21

The Colombo district organizer of the proscribed National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) Islamist group Mohamed Farouk Mohamed Fawaz was on Tuesday remanded further till May 21 by a court here, the media reported.

Fawaz was arrested earlier in May over the Easter Sunday bombings which killed over 250 people and injured hundreds and was blamed by the government on the Sri Lankan extremist group. The NTJ is believed to have links with the Islamic State which claimed the killings.

The police produced Fawaz before the Colombo Chief Magistrate Court in relation to a search carried out in a shoe shop in Gampola, the Daily Mirror reported.

The police told the court that during the raid they discovered a hard disk in which a photograph of Fawaz posing with two suicide bombers -- who hailed from Gampola -- was found. They also seized 67 stickers of the NTJ, pen drives and mobile phones.

Fawaz was earlier grilled by the police for 72 hours under the emergency regulations, the report said.

Officials said that Fawaz has been a resident of Keselwatta for nine years.

The police said on Monday that the NTJ had been found possessing over 140 million Sri Lankan rupees in cash and other assets worth over 7 billion Sri Lankan rupees.

Police media spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said steps were being taken to seize all the assets and that there were 54 suspects related to the bombings in the custody of the Criminal Investigations Department. Among them seven were women.

--IANS

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