Mosque official: We warned government about radical preachers, including alleged ringleader
From CNN's James Griffiths in Colombo
Reyyaz Salley, chairman of the Shaikh Usman Waliyullah mosque, told CNN that he had repeatedly attempted to warn the government about radical preachers in Sri Lanka, including Zahran Hashim, the alleged mastermind of the attacks.
"They started to attack Sufi mosques and shrines (in 2010)," he said.
In February 2019, Salley sent police and intelligence officials videos that Hashim made, which Salley considered promoting jihad. He urged them to act upon it.
"People have been brainwashed. He was talking about jihad. These are all very dangerous messages for the country," he says.
"If the authorities had taken our advice this could have been prevented.â