New Delhi (Sputnik): The Sri Lankan government has cracked down on terror suspects after the Easter Sunday serial terrorist blasts and deported some 600 foreigners from Colombo last week, including 100 Indians, the Indian daily The Pioneer reported.
There were 200 Muslim religious preachers (Maulvis) among the ones deported, the media report said.
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The Sri Lankan government is screening 1,200 individuals suspected to have terror links. After confirmation, they would also be deported from the country.
Clerics from Pakistan and the Maldives were also among those deported from the country.
According to the report, prior to the Easter Sunday attacks, the chief of National Thowheed Jamat, Zaharan Hashim, was in southern India for three months. He was there below the radar of India's Intelligence Bureau and hence remained undetected during his stay in India.
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The process of deportation commenced on Tuesday and by Thursday the country got rid of 600 radicals from its soil. Amid the deportation, the government informed foreign diplomatic missions about the ongoing process.
Citing sources, the daily revealed that radical Muslim preachers were members of international networks of terror groups, like al-Qaeda* and Daesh*, that have the imposition of radical Islam in the countries of their domicile as their ultimate goal through the use of terrorism.
*Terrorist organisations outlawed in Russia and many other countries.