Colombo: The Lankan police has taken into custody Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim, a wealthy spice trader and father of two suicide bombers, on suspicion of aiding and abetting his sons. All other members of the Ibrahim family known to police were also in custody.
A government official said that Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim, one of the brothers, was previously arrested by the police and then released. Ilham Ahmed detonated a device at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo. "It was the suicide bomber of the Cinnamon Grand bomb attack who was released earlier," the official said.
Ilham and his brother Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim were previously identified as two of the suicide bombers in Sunday's attacks, which left at least 359 people dead across the country.
A huge international criminal investigation is ramping up in Sri Lanka, with six foreign police agencies and Interpol assisting local police, including Scotland Yard from the UK and the FBI from the US.
Officers from Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) have raided five houses across the country. Those locations have since been sealed for forensic investigation. More than 70 suspects have been taken into custody on a range of charges, including suspicion of terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism. Four high-level suspects are being held by TID and 33 are being held by CID, the police said. Of those arrested, four suspects are female, and all are Muslims.
