Sirisena postpones Batticaloa event near site of Sinhala mob attack

The Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena has postponed his visit on Sunday to the opening ceremony of the a hotel in Pasikuda, Batticaloa, after the murder of a Tamil man near the hotel by a Sinhala mob, the Sunday Times reported.

Fifty-one year old Thambipillai Thangarasa was attacked in Kalkudah on Thursday as he was returning home from the grocery store. A group of Sinhalese men, reported to be under the influence of alcohol, attacked him after an argument broke out, leaving him with fatal head injuries.

According to the Sunday Times, a local police officer said the attack accord near the hotel where construction workers were holding a party to celebrate the completion of the hotel.

“There was an argument among the workers. A village fishermen tried to settle the dispute, but was beaten up and then stabbed with a bottle,” the officer reported added.

Mr Sirisena will continue to attend his other engagements in Batticaloa however.

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