Suspected NTJ member remanded till May 21 by Sri Lankan court

A suspected member of the banned Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamath (NTJ) was on Tuesday remanded further till May 21 by a Sri Lankan court, according to a media report.

The Western Province Intelligence Division of the police had arrested the suspect, identified as Mohamed Farook Mohamed Fawaz, at Keselwatte on suspicion of having links with the NTJ, which is blamed for the deadly Easter suicide attacks that killed more than 250 people, the Daily Mirror reported.

Fawaz was produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate Court in relation to a search carried out in a shoe shop in Gampola.

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.

Following the arrest of the suspect, the police had recovered the device suspecting it to be one used in the bomb blasts carried out island wide.

The court remanded him further till May 21.

The suspect has been a resident of Keselwatte for nine years.

Nine suicide bombers carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on the Easter Sunday. The ISIS claimed the attacks, but the government blamed local Islamist extremist group NTJ for the bombings.