Businesses in Trincomalee held a hartal today to demonstrate against the state appointed governor of the Eastern Province, M. L. A. M. Hizbullah.
Residents and shop owners demanded he be sacked, accusing him of being in association with Islamist extremists.
Protesters burnt tyres near Sangamam junction this morning.
The hartal follows the Easter Sunday suicide bombings by Islamist extremists supportive of Islamic State, which killed over 250 people, including in Batticaloa.
Following the bombings, the Tamil National Alliance tweeted there were “serious questions” regarding Hizbullah's links to the National Thowheed Jamaath, a lesser known jihadist group that has been blamed by Sri Lankan authorities for the bombings.
This is not the first hartal held by Eastern Province residents against his appointment. At the time of his appointment, residents and shop owners in Batticaloa held a similar protest accusing him of being involved in corruption.
Locals also accused Hizbullah, a former UPFA MP, of exacerbating inter-community tensions in the East during his time in the Eastern Provincial Council.
