Police have arrested two army corporals for their suspected involvement in anti-Muslim riots in the central highlands district of Kandy last month, police said on Tuesday.
It was the first arrest of serving soldiers for the worst sectarian violence since 2014. It was not immediately clear if any more senior officers are suspected. At least two ex-military officials have also been arrested.
An officer at the police spokesman’s office told Reuters, 342 suspects have been arrested. The corporals were arrested on Monday.
Muslims comprise about nine percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 21 million. Buddhists make up about 70 percent and Hindus about 13 percent.
The government ended a full-blown 26-year civil war by defeating mostly Hindu Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels in 2009, with claims of atrocities on both sides.
(REUTERS)
Former Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, arrested on allegation of corruption by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has been remanded until July 1 by the Colombo Magistrate court.
Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Stabilization and NPP National List MP Harshana Suriyapperuma who is tipped to be named the next Finance Ministry Secretary resigned from Parliament today.
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