Two minors, who allegedly attended lectures on the use of firearms and the propaganda of extremist ideas by the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) and its Leader Zahran Hashim, have made a statement to the Fort Magistrate.
They had recorded a statement with Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake for nearly 04 hours, according to Ada Derana court reporter.
The parents of the two minors had made a request to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) that they need to submit a statement on the subject and the request was forwarded to the court by the CID.
Accordingly, the two boys, aged 8 and 14 years, appeared before the Magistrate through private lawyers. Their statements were recorded with the assistance of a Tamil translator.
Meanwhile, the CID stated that they have, so far, recorded statements from 16 boys who allegedly participated in such extremist lectures.
However, some organized group had previously obtained affidavits from the parents of 14 of the boys, CID said.
