A minor who received Zahran’s weapon training confesses

The 16-year-old son of NTJ leader Zahran Hashim’s second-in-command Naufer Moulavi was arrested in Ampara yesterday (16).

Police Media Spokesperson SP Ruwan Gunasekara said the suspect is a resident of Ekunugolla area in Kurunegala.

Preliminary police investigations have revealed that the suspect had received weapon training along with Zahran Hashim at the Nuwara Eliya camp.

The suspect had confessed that his father, Naufer Moulavi, had taken him to the camp in Nuwara Eliya and gave him training on bomb-making.

“My father took me to Nuwara Eliya saying that we are going on a trip. We went to a house. There were 4-5 Moulavis there. Nearly 28-30 other Moulavis came in during the nightfall,” the suspect said.

Early in the following morning, the lectures commenced. The lectures were held on Saturdays and Sundays, the 16-year-old said.

According to his confession, the attendees of the lectures were taught about jihadism and given training about making bombs. “We all took an oath afterwards and were given names,” he has said.

The suspect said that he was named Abu Hasam and they took oath in front of Zahran Moulavi. We received a weapon training after taking the oath, the suspect said.