Social activist and YouTuber Sepal Amarasinghe – who is currently in remand custody for allegedly causing a disturbance among the Buddhist community by making insulting comments on the tooth relic which is placed at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy – through his attorney, informed the Colombo Magistrate's Court yesterday (31 January) that he is ready to make an apology over the statement in question.

When the case against Amarasinghe was taken up before Colombo Magistrate Prasanna Alwis, Attorney-at-Law Darshana Kuruppu who appeared for the suspect, informed the court that his client was ready to make an apology over the statement that he had made about the tooth relic.

The Magistrate ordered that the suspect be further remanded until 14 February and also ordered the relevant Superintendent of Prison to refer the suspect to the Government Analyst to conduct a voice test (an evaluation of the grasp of the language and its intricacies) on the suspect.

The Mahanayakas (Chief Prelates) of the Asgiri and Malwathu Chapters of the Siam Sect, Ven. Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thera and Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera, respectively, and Diyawadana Nilame (Head of the Temple of the Tooth) Pradeep Nilanga Dela had recently requested President Ranil Wickremesinghe to direct an investigation and take necessary steps regarding Amarasinghe's statement on the tooth relic. Inspector General of Police Chandana D. Wickramaratne had then directed the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to launch an investigation into the matter. Based on the findings of the investigation, Amarasinghe was arrested by the CID on 5 January, and since then placed in remand custody on a number of occasions.