News
Tight security for religious and cultural festivals
View(s):
Police commandos providing tight security for the religious ceremony held at the Wellawatte Sri Badrakaliamman Kovil yesterday. This was part of the overall plan by the armed services and the Police to provide tight security for the series of religious and cultural festivals, mainly the Esala Perahera of the Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy. Pic by Indika Handuwala
Thousands of military and police personnel have been deployed to provide tight security for a series of religious and cultural festivals being held this month.
The move came as the United States embassy issued a fresh security warning to US citizens to take precautions.
An intelligence source said yesterday that the security measures were essentially precautionary and not based on inputs pointing to specific plans or activity.
Among the festivals are today’s St Anne’s feast at Talawila in Chilaw, the Kandy Esala Perahera, and the Nallur festival.
Military spokesman Sumith Atapattu said that the Colombo-based Overall Operational Command (OOC) was providing security for today’s Talawila festival which attracts thousands of people.
“We have taken all possible security measures to ensure safety and security of Sri Lankan people and foreign tourists,” he said, adding that several thousand security forces personnel were being deployed to provide security for various religious, cultural and public events around the country.
The Defence Secretary Shantha Kottegoda will visit the Sri Dalada Maligawa today to supervise security arrangements for the annual Esala Perahera. He will will meet the authorities to assess the security measures.
Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said more than 7,000 Special Task Force commandos and other police personnel had been deployed to provide security for the religious, cultural and public events.
The US Embassy yesterday issued a reminder to US nationals in the country to exercise increased caution during the upcoming holidays.
An embassy spokesperson said that new travel advisory was standard procedure before public holidays and key events and that there has been no change of the security threat assessment.
On July 31, Parliament extended the state of emergency for a month, mainly to provide security for the religious and cultural festivals this month.