India: Man arrested over ties to Sri Lanka bombings

CHANDIGARH, India

Indian authorities have arrested a man in the southern state of Tamil Nadu with alleged links to a suicide bombing in Sri Lanka in April which left more than 250 people dead.

The accused identified as Mohammad Azharuddin, 32, was a Facebook friend of mastermind of the attack, India's anti-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in a statement on Thursday.

"[..] accused Mohammad Azharuddin has been a Facebook friend of Sri Lankan suicide bomber Zahran Hashim and other members of the module have also been sharing radical contents attributed to Zahran Hashim, over the social media,” the statement added.

The agency said they had received information that Azharuddin and his aides were propagating terrorist ideologies.

Officials said the accused was arrested during raids conducted by the NIA at seven locations in Coimbatore city on Wednesday and Thursday.

Five other suspects were also arrested from the state for links to Daesh which had claimed responsibility for a string of bombings on April 21 in and outside Colombo, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka.