Church vandalized in Trincomalee, mosque burnt in Anuradapura

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 October 2012, 12:13 GMT]
Unidentified gangs, believed to be Sinhala extremists, have destroyed a statue at a Catholic church located at Paazhaiyoottu in the Trincomalee Divisional Secretariat division Friday night. In the meantime, Thakka Mosque has been put on fire Saturday early morning around 2:30 a.m. on Hajji festival day at Sinha Hanuwa in Malwathu Oya at Anuradhapura district, news sources in Trincomalee said.

Two hands of the statue at the church were destroyed and electric lights used to decorate the statue have been removed.

The church is located near the Uppuve'li Police station near the railway crossing about 4 km away from the heart of Trincomalee city.

The destruction has taken place Saturday early morning, according to residents of the area.

At Anuradhapura, the Islamic clergy had made arrangement to hold special prayers in the destroyed mosque in connection with Hajji Festival.

As the mosque was put on fire by an unidentified gang, the Muslim clergy arranged the scheduled special prayer for Hajji Festival at a house situated near the destroyed mosque, news sources further said.