Muslim-Tamil ethnic unrest in Matale

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Twenty five Tamil shops were burnt today in the hill country town of Matale as Muslims in the area angered by the death of one of them went on a rampage.

Curfew was clamped in the town from 12 p.m this noon.

Unconfirmed reports said that the army has been moved into the area.

The problem began last night, as some Tamil youth returning from after a movie were assaulted by some Muslims in the town. The Tamil youth had hit back. The Police came to the spot and took a muslim to the station for assulting a policeman who was in mufti in the fracas.

The man was dead later. Tamil sources say that the Muslim died because of Police torture while the Police is trying to make it out that his death was due to assault by the Tamil youth.

A group of Muslims went to the Tamil town of Kaluthavalai near Matale last night and assulted people there in retaliation. The problem spread this morning as Tamil shops were set on fire by Muslims gangs in the Matale town.