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KMC seeks police probe on ‘saffron water’ barrier
View(s):The Kandy Municipal Council has decided to request the Inspector General for a probe on why police officers prevented Mayor Mahendra Ratwatte from proceeding along the perahera route to the Sri Dalada Maligawa after the road was washed with saffron water.
When the matter was taken up at the council sessions on Thursday, opposition leader and former Diyawadana Nilame Niranjan Wijeyaratne said that it was he who introduced the practice of washing the perahera route with saffron water. But he admitted that the practice was not part of the Esala perahera tradition.
Insisting that no one should be allowed to walk along the perahera route with his shoes on, Mr. Wijeyaratne protested over police officers wearing shoes while on duty after the route was washed with saffron water.
The mayor said he was returning to the Maligawa after he participated in a presidential event where food items were distributed to the devotees, but he was prevented by an Assistant Superintendent of Police from entering the access route. He said he had to contact ‘higher officials’ to go to the Maligawa.