Sri Lankan police today arrested a prominent figure of a Buddhist extremist group along with two others for their alleged role in a series of arson attacks on Islamic religious centres in the country in recent weeks.
Police spokesman Priyantha Jayakodi said, "We have arrested a man for attacking two Muslim religious places and businesses over the last month's time".
The 32-year old, a key figure of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), was arrested from the suburbs of Colombo suburb of Maharagama. He was arrested for attacks in the area.
"He has links with BBS and is one of their activists," Jayakodi said.
He said other two were arrested from Danture in the central province and Trincomalee in the east.
Muslim civil society groups had claimed that, there have been over 30 incidents of racial and hatred attacks over the last seven weeks. They had accused the police of inaction to prevent the attacks.
The attacks were blamed on BBS or the Forces of Buddhist Power.
Addressing a press conference this morning, the BBS spokesman Dilantha Vithanage said, the arrested men were not members of their group.
Gnanasara is wanted for contempt of court and has been ordered by a court not to leave the country. Police had launched a search for him but was not able to arrest him.
The concerned Muslim raised the issue with the international community.
Envoys of many countries, including Australia and Canada, have visited a prominent mosque here to express their solidarity with minority Muslims.
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