The AI says the prime suspect of the abduction is a close associate of a minister

The rights watchdog also calls on authorities to ensure those responsible for the abduction of Pattani Rafeek are brought to justice.

Mr Razeek, the Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund (CTF), has disappeared on 11 February 2010 in Polonnaruwa, in north-central Sri Lanka.

The AI says although the police in Puttalam identified the man they consider the prime suspect in Mr Razeek’s enforced disappearance, failed to question him.

We understand the person who has been identified as a suspect has a close association with a government official Yolanda Foster, AI Sri Lanka expert

The suspect is a close associate of Sri Lanka’s former Minister for Industry and Commerce, according to the the London based rights watchdog.

Yolanda Foster, Amnesty International’s Sri Lanka expert, said: “We understand the person who has been identified as a suspect has a close association with a government official.”

The watchdog says that the suspect remains at large and has applied for anticipatory bail.

“A public statement by S. R. M. M. Irshad, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister Rishad Bathiudeen following Mr Razeek’s disappearance claimed that Razeek had been detained by the Secretary of Defence because he had acted as an intermediary to transfer funds to the LTTE,” the AI statement said.