Turmoil in Galle

• Houses burnt, mosque attacked
• Three arrested
• Three injured in hospital
• Police curfew imposed

Several buildings have been set on fire and damaged in the Gintota area in Galle yesterday, following a commotion among the communities living in the area. 

  According to the Vice President of the Sri Lanka Muslim Council, the incident had begun on Thursday when a man identified as a Sinhalese had knocked a man who was identified as a Muslim with his bike. Thereafter an alleged gang of Muslims had attacked the Sinhala man. 

This was followed with the Sinhalese individual returning with a gang of his own, Ahmed said, which erupted in a scuffle that led to the turmoil that encompassed the Gintota area.

At the time of writing, the Police media unit told the Daily FT that a Special Task Force Team along with the police riot squad had been deployed to the area.

Police and the STF had used tear gas to disperse the unruly crowd.

According to the police, three individuals had been arrested.

Several houses had been set alight while the local mosque too was damaged, the Police reported.

Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Governments Faizer Mustapha, who was on his way to Gintota, confirmed that the Police and STF had been able to disperse the crowd, at the time of writing.

According to ASP Ruwan Gunasekara, 200 police officers and over 100 STF have been deployed by the IGP. A total of seven suspects have been taken into custory.

“The situation fully under control,” he said.

Daily FT learns that three injured persons have been admitted to the Galle hospital at the time of writing. Police curfew was imposed on several areas in Galle till 9am today following the incident.