Former Minister Rauf Hakeem has claimed that he initially was made aware about Easter attacks ringleader Zahran Hashim’s extremists lectures after being notified by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe’s wife Maithri Wickramasinghe.
Hakeem made the observation when testifying before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) appointed to probe the Easter Sunday terror attacks in April 2019.
His response was reportedly in reply to a question raised by President’s Counsel Shanil Perera, who represents his Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith at the Commission.
In February 2019, a video clip of Zahran Hashim’s lecture shared on the internet was sent to me by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramesinghe’s wife Maithri Wickramesinghe, criticising it and requesting me to look into it.
Investigations had revealed that Zahran Hashim had not produced himself before court and was issued a warrant after the clash in Aliyar junction in 2017, the Leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress testified.
The former Minister further said that when inquiries were made from the Criminal Investigations Department in this regard, they had assured him that the CID was doing its level best to arrest Zahran and it had deployed about 50 teams to find him. (NewsWire)
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