India, April 7 -- The Sri Lankan government has disclosed the name of the mastermind of the 2019 Easter bombings that killed around 270 people. An Islamic preacher, Naufer Maulavi, has been identified by Sri Lankan security services behind the gruesome attack.

Sarath Weerasekra, Sri Lanka's minister of public security, on Tuesday, said Naufer Maulavi-- currently under the custody of Sri Lankan security forces- and Hajjul Akbar were the key motivators in the attack.

Maulavi was one of the founding members of the National Tawheed Jamaat (NTJ), the group responsible for the 2019 attacks. The Sri Lanka-based group pledges its allegiance to ISIS.

Weerasekra claimed that he brought the ideology of ISIS to the island nation in 2014. Later in ...