Sri Lankan police officers attempted to arrest Tamil protestors in Jaffna on Monday, after they entered land which has been illegally taken over by the government's Coconut Development Board.

Demonstrators, including Tamil National Alliance MP Sritharan, entered the 51-acre patch of land in Palai, Jaffna on Monday, demanding it be returned to its rightful owners. A decision had been granted in favour of the Tamil villagers by the District Development Committee, yet the Sri Lankan authorities continue their occupation.

The Sri Lankan government's claim on a continental shelf has raised objections from India, Bangladesh and the Maldives, reports the Dhaka Tribune.

Sri Lanka has made a submission before the United Nations that claims a portion of a continental shelf, an underwater land mass that extends from the seabed of a country, which Bangladesh also laid claim too.

A trishaw driver in Sri Lanka fled after he attempted to abduct and abuse two Scottish tourists who are currently visiting the island, reports the Daily Mirror.

The driver had reportedly picked up the women in his trishaw from Kandy, before driving to an abandoned building in Hantane, where he attempted to sexually abuse the women.

The leader of the Tamil National Alliance R Sampanthan is facing controversy over his 'disrespectful' treatment of two former political prisoners during a meeting in which he accused them of disrupting processes in getting them released.

Video footage shows Mr Sampanthan flicking through a newspaper while the two Tamil men speak about the plight of remaining political prisoners.

The former prisoners, Komahan Murugiah and Jeneevan Sivarasa can be seen telling Mr Sampanthan that they have not come to meet him for personal reasons, but that they were asked to meet him by the remaining Tamil political prisoners, while the TNA leader leafs through his paper.

Mr Sampanthan, barely lifting his eyes off the paper, then tells the men that the release of the political prisoners is an important issue for the Tamil people.

More than 600 Sinhala fishermen have now settled in 9 different coastal areas across Mullativiu said Northern Provincial Council member T Ravikaran, as he outlined details of state-sponsored colonisation of the Tamil North-East.

Mr Ravikaran also stated that at least 9 Buddhist viharas had been constructed in the Mullaitivu district in the last 6 years alone, all of which have been aided by the Sri Lankan armed forces.

The councillor detailed the long history of state-sponsored colonisation, recalling that in 1981 12 to 14 fishermen had been granted temporary permits to settle in Kokkilai and fish. Now the number in that village alone is 300.

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province Justice C V Wigneswaran was set to meet Sri Lanka's president and prime minister in Colombo today, in order to discuss the ongoing issue of military occupation of civilians lands in the Tamil North-East.

However, the meeting was postponed after the chief minister was hospitalised with a sudden illness, reports the Daily Mirror. There is no further information on his condition at the time of reporting.

A high level delegation of Sri Lankan officials is in Washington DC to negotiate with the IMF about an economic programme to help ease its balance of payment crisis.

Finance minister Ravi Karunanayake and Central Bank governor Arjuna Mahendran are attending the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in the US capital.

A study by Sri Lanka's Sunday Times has found that low and middle income households will be worst hit by the government’s move to raise Value Added Tax (VAT) to 15 percent from May 2.

Telephone, water and electricity bills are due to rise, on top of an increase on consumer items, medical bills and private education.

The budget 2016 had proposed a two-band VAT rate – 8 and 12.5 percent instead of a single rate of 11 percent, which however, not implemented.