Security tightened in Batticaloa to prevent communal clashes

Security tightened in Batticaloa to prevent communal clashes
Sunday Times SL

Security in and around Batticaloa town was tightened last night with the deployment of additional police and Special Task forces personnel to prevent a possible clash between two communities.
Earlier in the day, a tense situation arose when police stopped a group led Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Galagoda-atte Gnanasara Thera from proceeding to Batticaloa town.

The group from Colombo was stopped at Riditenna in Welikanda but later allowed to proceed to Punani, 60 kms from Batticaloa town. The group decided to spend the night there.

A BBS spokesman said they were going to Batticaloa to take part in  religious activities and look into the welfare of Buddhists in the  area.

But others said the BBS group was to join a march organised by the controversial monk, the Ven Ampitiye Sumanaratna Thera of Mangalaramaya, Batticaloa, to place a Buddha statue in a private land.

Last evening, several people, including two Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarians, gathered near Batticaloa town to demand that the police take action to disperse a crowd led by Ven Sumanaratna Thera. They said if this was not done, it could lead to a clash between the two groups.

Senior Deputy Inspector General Sumith Edirisinghe, who is in charge of the Batticaloa division, said the Police had taken necessary measures to prevent any violence.

“The situation is under control, but we are on alert,” he said.

இன மத மோதல்களில் குளிர் காயும் NGO கள்

Extremist monks march towards Batticaloa, Tamil and Sinhala youth mobilise for confrontation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 December 2016, 18:19 GMT]

SMS message were being sent across Batticaloa calling Tamil and Muslim youth to confront the violent Sinhala-Buddhist Power Force (Bodu Bala Sena), which is marching towards Batticaloa with a vow to erect 10 Buddha statutes in the Tamil-speaking Batticaloa district.

The BBS monks have managed to reach Punaanai, outmanoeuvring SL policemen at Regi-thana, a locality between Welikanda and Punaanai. Sinhala youth have also been mobilised from Polonnaruwa and Ampaa’rai to accompany the marching monks. In the meantime, informed sources said Ampitiye Sumanarathna Thero was recently spotted being in possession of a pistol beneath his saffron. The sources has also revealed that the monk was initially a recruit of the so-called ‘National Intelligence Bureau’, especially in the early 1990s and he was posted to Batticaloa with a particular mission. 

இத்தகைய நிலங்கள் சிவ சேனையின் விளைவுக்கான விச வித்துக்களே!