Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed a three-member committee of retired judges to investigate the incidents of violence in Kandy district over the past week. Presidential Secretary Austin Fernando said the commission, whose members have not been selected yet, will begin its inquiry after Sirisena returns to the country, Sri Lankan publication The Sunday Times reported.
Sirisena is in India to attend the International Solar Alliance Summit in New Delhi. He will head to Japan next for an official visit.
On Saturday, authorities lifted the curfew in Kandy city and its suburbs, where Muslim-dominated areas were targeted by the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community since last weekend, the Colombo Page reported. The violence forced the president to declare a state of emergency in Kandy district on Tuesday for 10 days.
While Kandy is no longer under a curfew, soldiers and police patrol teams will continue to monitor the situation in the district till normalcy returns. So far, at least two people have died in the clashes.
The Sri Lankan Police said on Friday that they were investigating whether the 10 suspected Sinhalese Buddhist leaders of the anti-Muslim incidents had received foreign funding, Reuters reported. The 10 were detained on Friday on suspicion that they had instigated the attacks on mosques and Muslim businesses in Kandy.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who met security forces and state officials in Kandy on Saturday, said it was common belief that the communal violence against Muslims was an organised act, calling for a “comprehensive investigation” into the attacks, the Colombo Page reported.
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