Sinhala officials from the Wildlife Conservation Department attacked and burnt the huts of cattle herders in Mathavanai, Batticaloa. 

On the evening of April 20, five officials arrived in a vehicle and entered the homes of the cattle herders, villagers said, describing the officials as drunk. 

President Sirisena’s Chief of Staff, I.H.K. Mahanama, was arrested for taking a bribe from an Indian investor. 

Mahanama initially demanded that the investor – a businessperson investing in a sugar factory in Kantale, Trincomalee, pay approximately 540 million Sri Lanka rupees (3.5 million USD). However, upon negotiation the amount was reduced to 100 million. The investor contacted the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) subsequently.

Sri Lanka’s Embassy in the US filed a letter of objection to a Congressional Caucus on Religious and Ethnic Freedom in Sri Lanka which saw discussion on the link between Sinhala Buddhism and extremist violence.

Commenting on the event invitation, Sri Lanka’s Charge d’affaires to the US Priyanga Wickramasinghe said,

“To term the incidents of violence caused by the actions of a few as an ‘anti-Muslim pogrom’ is a gross misrepresentation of what transpired. Sri Lanka is not plagued by religious or ethnic violence. Religion was not a root cause for the conflict that ended in 2009.”

The letter added,

Sri Lanka's CID on Thursday re-issued a photograph of the navy lieutenant commander who is wanted in relation to his suspected involvement in the disappearance of 11 Tamil youths between 2008 - 2009. 

The police have issued an open arrest warrant for the officer, Hettiarachchi Mudiyanselage Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi alias Navy Sampath. 

Earlier this year Sri Lanka's former navy spokesperson, who was arrested in 2017 over the enforced disappearance of the Tamil youths was released on bail. 

Commodore D K P Dassanayake and five others were charged with aiding and abetting the abduction of 11 Tamil youths. 

Sri Lanka's senior Buddhist clergy, the Maha Sangha, on Thursday urged the president and prime minister not to push through with the proposed 20th amendment to the constitution which would abolish the executive presidency, arguing it was a move to divide the country. 

Speaking at the National Conference of the Maha Sangha which took place in Colombo, the clergy added that "it was too dangerous to abolish the executive presidency when the 13th amendment to the constitution remained."

Journalists and media workers who have been killed by Sri Lankan state forces were remembered on Thursday, marking Press Freedom Day. 

A memorial event, organised by Jaffna Press Club, took place at the memorial erected for massacred media workers in Jaffna, whilst another event was organised at an art gallery in Jaffna. 

Flowers and lamps were laid in their memory. 

Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister both commemorated ‘war heroes month’ on Wednesday, where they paid tribute to Sri Lankan troops for a military offensive that saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilians killed.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka called for “political stability” on the island, as growth of the economy slowed to the lowest level in 16 years.

"Political stability is essential for sustained growth and development," the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Sri Lankan government has been in increasing turmoil since this year’s local elections, which saw former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s party making sweeping gains across the south, as the ruling parties suffered heavy losses. Tensions have increased between the Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, with the latter battling of a no confidence vote last month.

The Sri Lankan Army has built a Buddhist vihara in the occupied land of a Hindu temple in Valikamam North.

Sri Lankan soldiers station in the East had a training session n “riot control” last month, announced an official military website.