Mob attacks Muslim homes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 September 1998, 05:30 GMT]
Muslim homes and shops were set on fire yesterday night in Kumbukgeta and Kiripitiya in the Kurunagala district by a mob led by a local Sinhala politician.

Opposition MP A.H Azwer (UNP) charged that Muslims had been targeted by the Sinhala mob in this area where, according to him, tension between the two communities has prevailed for some time.

He said in a fax sent to the Sri Lankan President yesterday that the mob was led by the chairman of the Polpitigala Pradheshiya Sabha.

He has also requested the President to change the Policemen at Wellawa and Gokaralla stations as they had failed to maintain the peace.

Sources close to Mr.Azwer said that the Police in the area had acted in a manner that encouraged the thugs.

Police sources in Colombo, however, denied the allegation of their complicity in the violence. They said that the MP had incorrectly portrayed the mob attack as one instigated by racial hatred.

Sources said that no one has been arrested yet in connection with the attack.