by Dasun Edirisinghe
An unidentified gang threw stones at a mosque at the Borella Cross road on Saturday night, damaging some of its windows.
No one had been hurt in the attack though several had been in the mosque at the time of the incident, police said.
The police believe the attackers had come in a van.
Officer-in-charge of the Borella Police, Chief Inspector Pragathi Abeysinghe told The Island yesterday that the incident had taken place around 10.40 pm. "We are conducting investigations and we are hopeful that we will be able to nab the culprits today."
Former UPFA National List MP AHM Azwer told The Island that Muslim community expected the President and government to take immediate action and find the culprits. "As soon as I heard of the attack, I visited the scene with former Governor of the Western Province Alavi Moulana. Residents told us that the attackers were known to the police. But when we queried the police why the attackers had not been taken into custody they said they wanted to check the CCTV footage. But we know that CCTV system at the mosque has not been functioning for the last ten days or so. There are eye witnesses to the incident, Azwer said.
He said that President Maithripala Sirisena had declared in Jaffna recently that his government would protect the rights of minorities. "Muslims and Tamils voted overwhelmingly for him and he should act fast,"
