Sri Lankan police have arrested a Buddhist monk in Colombo as he staged a protest against the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) on Wednesday.

Watareka Vijitha Thera was arrested by Colombo Fort Police as he protested outside the Presidential Secretariat.

The Daily Mirror alleges he was “behaving in a violent manner” while Colombo Gazette reports was arrested for “disrupting the duties of officials”.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance and Mass Media said media institutions on the island had a responsibility to report the truth, as he accused certain outlets of producing fake news.

ColomboPage reported Minister Mangala Samaraweera as stating “it is the responsibility of the media to impart truthful information to the public with self-regulation”.

Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has signed an affidavit testifying against two senior Army officers who face corruption charges.

Mr Rajapaksa’s testimony was in response to claims by the senior army officers that they had acted under the instruction of the former defence secretary.

Former Army Commander Lt Gen Daya Ratnayake and former Additional Defence Secretary Sripala Hettiarachchi face allegations of multimillion rupee fraud involving removal of iron from the Kankesanthurai Cement Factory situated in the High Security Zone in Jaffna.

Sri Lanka’s Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundera during the second day of his visit to Jaffna said the threat of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Tamil Eelam has not been removed.

Speaking at a meeting with religious leaders and civil society organisations, Mr Jayasundera said,

The former navy spokesperson was re-remanded until August 10 today by the Colombo Fort magistrate over the abduction and disappearance of 11 Tamil youths in 2008, reports Daily Mirror. 

Commodore D K P Dassanayake was arrested last month after being identified as a suspect in the crime by Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Division. 

The leader of the PHU defended the former navy spokesperson and said the arrest "was merely an attempt made by supporters of the LTTE to get back at the individuals who helped defeat the LTTE using the government."

On 1st August 2007, Sahathevan Nilakshan, an up and coming Tamil journalist was shot and killed by suspected Sri Lankan military intelligence personnel.

The Sri Lankan government has cut import taxes on rice, flour, maize and fish in an attempt to keep prices down after drought affected crops, reports Economy Next. 

The 5 rupee import tax on rice has been cut to 25 cents and fish levy cut from 50 rupees to 25 rupees. 

The tax on wheat flour imports has been reduced by 10 rupees from 25 rupees per kilo to 15 rupees. 

The commander of the Sri Lankan army has reiterated “strong army commitment” to peacekeeping missions at a seminar held at the Hotel Taj Samudra in Colombo today.

Two suspects have been arrested in Jaffna today for their alleged involvement in a sword attack on police constables in Kokkuvil last week.

A statement released by the police said that Jaffna and Kopay police had arrested 20 year old Thavarasa Madushan and 23 year old Vijayarathnam Sivaraj.

They were identified as residents of Nallur and Manippai, reports Dailymirror.lk.

The Sri Lankan president deployed military officials to examine the welfare of those affected by drought in the country. 

Mr Sirisena gave the order at a special meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday on the issue, Colombo Page reported.