A racist Sinhala Buddhist monk threatened officials in Batticaloa this week, as he staged an impromptu protest at the Divisional Secretariat office demanding land be allocated for the construction of a Buddhist shrine.

Ampitiye Sumanarathana, an extremist Sinhala Buddhist known for his frequently violent racist outbursts, was videoed at the Divisional Secretariat office in Manmunai South West, Paddipalai, where he besieged officials and reportedly paralysed activities for the day.

His one man protest reportedly came after the Divisional Secretary stated that he did not have the authority to grant permission to set up a shrine in the Keviliyamadu area.

Sri Lankan police officers were called to the scene but reportedly did not intervene.

Sumanarathana is yet another one of Sri Lanka’s controversial extremist monks. Last year he demanded that the "true Sinhala-Buddhist President" of Sri Lanka and security forces investigate the "call for a separate Tamil state" following a hartal across the Tamil homeland. Days before that he threatened officials of the Department of Archaeology over a delay to demarcate an archaeological reservation land in Chenkalady.

Also last year the monk was caught on camera assaulting a Christian man when he visited Batticaloa. Sumanarathana is shown slapping the man while Sri Lankan police officers passively watch the spectacle. The monk then proceeds to criticise the police officers for failing to stop the Christian man from doing his missionary work.

Previously the monk threatened to kill a Tamil government official in Batticaloa on November 2016, subjecting him to verbal slander when he describes him as a “Tamil dog” and a “bloody tiger”, while a Sri Lankan police officer watched on.