Muslim men detained in Zoo bomb blast

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 00:15 GMT]
Three Muslim men have been arrested on suspicion of the Sunday bomb blast in Dehiwela Zoo and are being kept in detention, sources said.

Those arrested have been identified as M.M.Musthapha, 38, M.M.Raafi, 23, and M.M.Shafie, 23, all from Kaththankudy, Batticaloa district.

The men recently arrived in Colombo to seek employment and went to visit the Zoo. However, immediately after the bomb blast they got into an auto and directed the driver to take them to their residence.

Since the passengers were speaking in Tamil, on suspicion the driver drove the vehicle up to Dehiwela police station and handed over them to the police.

The police arrested the men and detained them for inquiries.

Meanwhile, the relatives of the arrested men met Dehiwela police and clarified the reason for the three men to reside in Colombo.

The blast at Dehiwala zoo comes in the wake of a number of blasts and killings in Sri Lanka's most popular wildlife sanctuaries.

The zoo has been closed until further notice.

Foreign tourist visits to Sri Lanka have declined by 20 per cent in 2007. Tourism is Sri Lanka's fourth largest source of foreign exchange, next to remittances from diaspora and overseas workers.