Following communal violence in some parts of Sri Lanka, Minister S.B. Dissanayake has informed that President Maithripala Sirisena and the Cabinet has decided to declare a State of Emergency for 10 days. The decision was taken to maintain law and order in the country. According to reports, violence was reported between Budhists and Muslim groups in in the country’s central Kandy district that left two persons dead.

The announcement comes after a local curfew was imposed on Monday, following days of unrest between religious communities in the country. According to PTI, fresh curfew was imposed today and heavily-armed police commandos of the special task force were deployed in Theldeniya and Pallekele areas of Kandy district.

As per reports, Minister Dissanayake said a Gazette Notice in this regard would be issued right away.

“There are allegations that the law was not implemented to minimize the impact of these tense situations. Now, the Police and Army personnel had been deployed to respective areas to beef up security,” he said.

Dissanayake further informed that the President could decide at the end of the 10 days, whether to extend the State of Emergency.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 06, 2018 02:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).