Sri Lanka police arrest 3 members of banned Islamic group

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lankan police on Monday arrested three members of a banned Islamic organization linked to Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks that killed more than 250 people, an official said.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said in a statement that the three suspects, who belong to Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim, were arrested in eastern Ampara district.

He said they are believed to have received training at two locations run by ringleader Mohamed Zahran, who blew himself up at a tourist hotel on April 21 as part of co-ordinated attacks on three churches and three tourist hotels.

Two domestic radical Islamic groups, National Thowheed Jammath and Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim, are accused of having pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and carried out the blasts.

More than 500 people were wounded in the attacks.

Sri Lanka’s government banned both of the groups after the blasts. It has discovered a number of their hideouts and suspected training locations.