Sri Lankan bombings mastermind Zahran Hashim’s one-time mentor, Nowfar Moulvi, who hails from Dambulla, in Central Province’s Kandy district, may have been arrested or killed in an encounter with the police special task force and Lankan military personnel.
Soon after the serial bombings, Ceylon Towheeth Jamath (CTJ) leader Mohammed Rasmin had met Lankan police officials and alerted them about a possible threat from Zahran’s associate and the talk about him preparing to lead Zahran’s band of supporters, Rasmin told TOI.
There is now talk of Nowfar having been arrested by special teams or killed in an encounter in Dambulla. Nowfar was co-founder of an organisation called Darul-Athar, of which Zahran was a member before he launched National Thowheed Jamath.
“We alerted the police in on April 24 about a possible threat from Nowfar, who seems to have been a sort of mentor for Zahran,” said Rasmin. “We heard that he was likely to take over the reins of Zahran’s group of supporters,” he said.
Six CTJ volunteers had been detained by police for suspected links with Zahran soon after the April 21 serial bombings in that killed 253 people and injured around 500. Rasmin said Nowfar’s page was deactivated soon after he alerted the police. But CTJ members managed to save a picture of Nowfar from his FB account.
When contacted, Sri Lankan military spokesman Brigadier Sumith Atapattu said he was aware of such a person. “But we are still trying to ascertain the identities of the suicide bombers and those killed in the bombings,” he said. In his 40s, Nowfar, who was in Qatar, is believed to have returned to Sri Lanka. Rasmin said he had informed the police about Nowfar having started Darul-Athar along with Zahran.
He may also have given Zahran refuge in the last couple of years when the radical leader set out on the destructive path of the Islamic State’s ideology and teachings, said controversial former TNTJ president P Jainulabidin, who formed the National Thowheed Federation after being expelled from the Thowheed Jamaath (TNTJ). Information about Nowfar had been kept under wraps, said Jainulabidin.
His NTF closely coordinates with CTJ. Jainulabidin undertook a long tour of Sri Lanka in 2012 when he addressed a huge gathering in Kattankudy. His fiery speeches against superstitious beliefs, black magic and offering prayers at dargahs (grave of a revered religious figure) drew the ire of moderate Muslims in Sri Lanka, but it is said to have inspired Zahran. “But I have never met him nor even spoken to him over the phone,” said Jainulabidin.
Towards the end of his tour, he was deported to India. In 2015, the Muslim leader was denied a visa to Sri Lanka and has since been prohibited from entering the island nation.
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