An alleged follower of Sri Lankan bombing leader Zahran Hashim is to appear in a southern Indian court Tuesday after admitting he wanted to carry out an attack in India's Kerala, investigators said.
During interrogation, he allegedly"disclosed that he has been following speeches/videos of Zahran Hashim of Sri Lanka for more than a year", an NIA statement said. Hashim was a Sri Lankan Muslim preacher who led the coordinated Easter Sunday suicide attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, killing 253 people in one of the world's deadliest terrorist attacks.
Hashim also appeared in a video released by the Islamic State group, showing him leading others in pledging allegiance to IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.India had warned Sri Lanka that suicide attacks were possible weeks before Hashim and the other bombers carried out their slaughter.