Dr. Punsara Amarasinghe, a lecturer at the Kotelawala Defence University, was arrested by Sri Lanka's Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) for making irresponsible statements regarding national security and sensitive issues related to specific communities, the police revealed.

The arrest followed a televised interview on May 25 in which Amarasinghe made controversial claims about four Sri Lankans recently arrested in India for alleged links with ISIS. He asserted these individuals were part of a list of 300 to 400 radical extremists identified by the Commission investigating the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. Amarasinghe accused Sri Lankan authorities of failing to monitor these suspects properly.

Police reported that Amarasinghe expressed regret for his statements, admitting they were mistaken. He also inaccurately claimed a 2020 ban on certain textbooks at Madarasas was lifted in 2023 and made unsubstantiated comments about the preachings of individuals named Zakir Hussain and PJ. Additionally, Amarasinghe wrongly stated that Aadhil X, arrested in 2019, had been acquitted, unaware that the case is ongoing in Galle High Court.

The police stated that these remarks misinformed the public, leading to Amarasinghe's arrest by the TID. He was subsequently granted bail by the Fort Magistrate’s Court.h