'Local Muslims didn't support Nazir'

‘It is true that Nazeer was cultivating ginger at Hosatota. However, there is no connection between the Muslims in the area and him,” President of Hosatota Jamaat K M Saidali said at a press conference.

Denying the reports that the Muslims of Hosatota are helping the extremist, he said, “Just because the accused belongs to the community it is not fair to come to this conclusion.”

The Jamaat has now decided to collect complete details of the strangers visiting the mosques to offer prayers. The Jamaat will extend full cooperation to the investigators. The police should find out if there were any people helping the ultra in the district, Saidali said.

“During his stay in Hosatota he had grown beard and people were calling him ‘Haji.’ He did not mingle too much with the localites and would visit the mosque occasionally,” he added.
He would occasionally visit a shop owned by one Saidu to buy groceries. Saidu too would trat him like any other customer, Saidali said.