Sri Lanka Attack Suspect Was Radicalised While Studying in Australia - PM

Previously, Samsul Hidaya, the sister of the attacker, told the Daily Mail that her brother "became angry and totally crazy" soon after returning from Melbourne's Swinburne University, where he earned a postgraduate degree.

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed, a suspect in the series of gruesome attacks on churches and hotels earlier this month, was influenced by extremist ideas while studying in Australia.

"That's how the family feel… We know there is some militancy going on in Australia among the Muslims. Australia has been out there fighting [in the war on terror]", Wickremesinghe told The Guardian Australia.

READ MORE: Open Doors UK Spokesperson: Sri Lanka Bombings ‘Clearly an Attack on Christians'

The statement comes a day after media reported that Mohamed had previously been a subject of a terrorism investigation by Australian police due to his links to Daesh* terrorists.

The death toll of the deadly attacks in Sri Lanka, allegedly carried out by Daesh-linked local terrorist group Thowheeth Jama'ath, has risen to 253 people. The terrorists targeted churches during Easter mass, killing numerous Christians, and carried out attacks at several prominent hotels in the Sri Lankan capital.

According to police, at least two attackers are believed to be on the run after the incident.

* Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia