Maldivians arrested in SL: two remanded for 14 days, remaining to be handed over to families

While two of the six Maldivians arrested in Sri Lanka have been remanded by 14 days, authorities have asked the families of the remaining four to “collect” them.

Maldives ambassador to Sri Lanka, Omar Abdul Razzaq confirmed this to RaajjeMV.

Noting that the four were also taken to court for a remand hearing on Saturday, the ambassador said that it had ordered for them to be handed over to their families; the four were arrested in Negombo, and are students in Sri Lanka. He added that the court’s decision was “for their safety and protection.”

Ambassador Razzaq noted that someone will be traveling to Sri Lanka to collect them on Monday, and that the four “will remain in a remand jail until then.”

While the ambassador revealed that the police had confiscated an air rifle in their possession, he noted that they did not have the license to carry one. The four engineering students were residing together.

Six Maldivians were apprehended by Lankan authorities this week, in two separate incidents; four on Thursday and two on Friday.

The two arrested on Friday were taken to court on Saturday, and have been remanded until May 10.

Following a series of coordinated bombings in Sri Lanka on Sunday, authorities are conducting a “major search operation” across its capital Colombo, in order to capture suspects still at large. President Maithripala Sirisena said that “every household in the country will be checked” in the operation.

Over 250 people were killed in Sunday’s attack.

While Lankan authorities have imposed a curfew, the Maldives embassy cautions those living in the country to remain indoors during the curfew.