COLOMBO – Sri Lanka imposed a curfew Monday in a central hill station townpopular with tourists after days of communal unrest that saw a man killedand Muslim businesses set alight.
Police had been placed on alert in Kandy, home to famous tea plantationsand Buddhist relics, to ensure that the “situation does not spiral intointer-communal conflagration,” the government said.
“The government appeals to all parties and especially the general public toact with responsibility and remain calm,” it said in a statement.
Police said there had been riots and arson attacks since the weekend inKandy.
“The curfew was imposed to control the situation in the area,” said policespokesman Ruwan Gunasekera.
Local officials said over two dozen suspects had been detained by police inconnection with the spate of arson attacks, while senior officers had alsolaunched an investigation into the conduct of police.
The violence has worsened since a man from the island s mainly BuddhistSinhalese majority died at the weekend from injuries sustained during ariot last week.
Kandy is just the latest region to be plagued by religious and ethnicconflict in Sri Lanka, a nation of 21 million people.
Mobs set fire to Muslim-owned businesses and attacked a mosque in the eastof the country last week after a Muslim chef was accused of addingcontraceptives to food sold to Sinhalese.
The government dismissed the allegation as baseless and ordered the arrestof those fomenting unrest in the area.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also ordered an investigation intoalleged police inaction in handling the clash.
Last November riots in the south of the island left one man dead and homesand vehicles damaged.
Religious and ethnic violence can turn deadly in Sri Lanka, where Muslimsaccount for 10 percent of the population and Sinhalese make up nearly 75percent.
In June 2014 riots between Buddhists and Muslims left four dead and manyinjured.
That violence was instigated by a Buddhist extremist group whose leadersare on trial accused of spurring religious conflict. – APP/AFP