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Sri Lankan govt expresses concerns over intelligence agencies after drug lord flees to India

Kanjipani Imran alias Mohammed Imran fled to Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.

Sri Lankan govt expresses concerns over intelligence agencies after drug lord flees to India

The Sri Lankan government on Tuesday (3) raised concerns over the country’s intelligence network after notorious underworld gangster and drug lord Kanjipani Imran alias Mohammed Imran fled to India after his release on bail.

Imran, wanted by the Sri Lankan authorities for various offences, including murders and criminal intimidation, was arrested in Dubai in 2019 and deported to the island nation. He was in judicial custody till a local court on December 20 last year granted him bail on payment of two sureties, each 5 million local currencies.


The Sri Lankan police last week said Imran fled to Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu days after his release on bail.

Speaking to reporters here, Cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena said Imran’s fleeing to India has raised concerns on the working of the Sri Lankan intelligence agencies and they must be questioned on the issue.

He said similar concerns over Sri Lanka’s intelligence network were also raised after the Easter Sunday attack. The local intelligence was inactive even after being alerted by their Indian counterpart about the 2019 bombings carried out by ISIS-related terrorists.

(PTI)

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Indian man left without UK status after wife and daughter died in Air India crash

Among the 260 dead were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, and one Canadian, including Sadikabanu and her daughter

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Indian man left without UK status after wife and daughter died in Air India crash

Highlights

  • Air India Flight 171 crash in June 2025 killed 260 people, including Mohammad Shethwala’s wife and child.
  • Home Office rejected his humanitarian visa, saying no exceptional circumstances.
  • Critics condemned the decision, comparing it to the Windrush scandal.
Mohammad Shethwala came to the UK from India in March 2022 as a dependent on his wife Sadikabanu's student visa, while she pursued her studies at Ulster University's London campus.
The couple settled in the capital, and their daughter Fatima was born in Britain. Life was moving forward.
Sadikabanu had recently started a new job in Rugby and was preparing to apply for a Skilled Worker visa, a step that would have secured the family's future in the UK from 2026 onwards.

That future ended on 12 June 2025. The Ahmedabad-to-London Air India flight went down seconds after take-off, killing all 241 passengers and crew on board, as well as 19 people on the ground after the aircraft struck a medical college hostel building and caught fire.

Among the 260 dead were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens and one Canadian. Sadikabanu and two-year-old Fatima were both on that flight.

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