Indian security agencies had alerted Sri Lanka that another National Towheed Jamaath (NTJ) team led by Jal al-Quital alias Rilwan Marzag could carry out more attacks. Noufar Moulvi, brother-in-law of Hashim, recently returned to Sri Lanka from Qatar and had taken charge of the group, they added.
The Tamil Nadu-based cleric under watch by security agencies and the Tamil Nadu Towheed Jamaat (TNTJ) do not have any direct links with terrorism, officials said. “They have no links acts to terror but we have reason to believe that they contributed to radicalisation,” an officer said.
Indian counterterror experts described the NTJ as a self-radicalised Salafi group inspired by the IS, though a link between the two is yet to be established. They said a number of Sri Lankan Muslims who recently flew back from Qatar had been arrested for their alleged role in the bombings.
An intelligence officer, who requested anonymity, said the attacks couldn’t have been possible without months of planning and international players travelling to Sri Lanka to take part in the execution at different stages.
According to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi groups, IS supporters were celebrating the attacks, and one supporter had released photographs of three attackers, calling them “commandoes”.
Senior officials, who didn’t want to be named, said India extended support for the probe after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday and offered counterterror and medical support.
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