The police probing a Catholic priest who was nabbed at KIA while trying to bring a large stock of sophisticated communication equipment into the country on Saturday will seek Interpol assistance.

A senior police officer told The Island yesterday that the preliminary investigations indicated that the priest had attempted to smuggle the communication equipment for the LTTE. He said the police believe that he could be a member of a network smuggling in equipment for the LTTE.

The equipment had been purchased from Singapore and the arrest made on a tip off, Police spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekera said.

The priest’s diary and mobile phone had been confiscated, SSP Gunasekera said.

The priest had arrived in the country in the early hours of Saturday.