Four Buddhist monks, including Balangoda Kassapa Thera, and five others have been further remanded until 11 February in connection with the unauthorised construction of a Buddha statue within the coastal protection zone in Trincomalee.
The order was issued after the suspects were produced before the Trincomalee Magistrate’s Court on 9 February, as investigations continue into alleged violations of coastal conservation laws.
The case stems from an incident on 16 November last year, when unrest broke out in the Dutch Bay area of Trincomalee following attempts by authorities to remove a Buddha statue erected at the Bodhiraja Vihara temple. The Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department subsequently lodged a complaint with the police, stating that the structure had been built without approval by the monks, within a protected coastal zone.
According to the department, when officials attempted to remove the unauthorised construction, they were met with strong resistance from Buddhist monks. Police later arrested several individuals, including monks, in connection with the incident.
The Trincomalee Magistrate’s Court ordered the suspects to be remanded on charges of violating coastal conservation and planning regulations. Those arrested were first taken into custody on 19 January and have since been repeatedly remanded as investigations progressed.
Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal dismissed petitions filed by Balangoda Kassapa Thera and Trincomalee Kalyanawansa Tissa Thera challenging their continued remand. The decision was delivered on 3 February by a bench comprising the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Rohantha Abesuriya, and Justice Priyantha Fernando. The ruling upheld the legality of the remand orders issued by the Magistrate’s Court.
Prior to the latest order extending remand until 11 February, the Trincomalee Magistrate’s Court had further remanded 10 individuals, including four monks, until 9 February, following earlier remand extensions on 28 January and 2 February.
The legal action unfolds against the backdrop of wider and longstanding controversy in the North-East, where the unauthorised erection of Buddhist shrines and statues has repeatedly raised alarm amongst Tamils. Such constructions are often viewed as part of a broader pattern of state-backed Sinhala Buddhist expansion into Tamil areas.
The case is scheduled to be taken up again before the Trincomalee Magistrate’s Court on 11 February.
