We, as the Sri Lanka Police, will make sure to ensure protection for the public to engage in their religious activites, specially during the night, said Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa.

He mentioned this while speaking at a meeting today (21).

Speaking on the upcoming Ramazan festival held on the 22nd of April he stated "The Police have organized a special program on the day of the Ramazan festival , as the Police were given instructions to ensure security for the mosques and around cities where religious activities take place," adding that the Police had already taken necessary steps and will continue to do so for the Islam community.

When asked about the tight security placed in Panadura and Akurana areas and if the Police had received any information on anything that would happen, the Police Spokesman said that the rumour regarding Panadura was due to false information circulating on social media. 

"But when considering the Akurana incident , the 118 telephone number had received a call saying that a blast would happen during the past few days, so till we confirmed whether it was true or false, the Police took action to establish tight security in the area," he claimed.

"But since the so called date had passed we have considered it as false information, although further investigations are underway to find out the suspect"

Thalduwa also spoke on the protests regarding Easter Sunday attacks and stated that false information about the Police were circulating these days.

"We were informed that a walk was organized in memory of the Easter attack victims, taking place from the Katuwapitiya church to St. Anthony's shrine in Kochchikade today (21), but as the Police we did not disturb the walk in any way, nor did we make any request to the court in order to stop it so it can be considered misunderstanding or false information," he expained.

"We got to know that a walk followed by a protest was organized in the Thilladuwa, Negambo area, however, the mentioned area is quite a small scaled one when considering the number of people attending it," said Thalduwa addind that "Therefore the Sri Lanka Police made a request to the court to change the venue of the protest to a spacious and suitable one, as it could result in harm to properties and could disturb the traffic on roads, but the court stated that the Police had authority to take action against such crimes and to report them to the court">

"But we did not make any requests about the crowd that will be gathering at St. Anthony's shrine," he stressed.

Thalduwa also mentioned that the crowd did not cause any disturbance on the roads and that the Police took action to minimize the distractions caused to vehicles on the road adding that the Police controlled the traffic in front of the shrine while ensuring securrity to the public.

He further noted that the Police did not disturb the walk in any kind of way as they do not intervene in any peaceful activities.

"Sri Lanka Police, together with the Ministry of Defence, the Tri forces and the intelligence unit will continue to ensure security, especially during the night due to the Ramazan festival," Thalduwa concluded.