Madakalapuwa Mangalaraama Temples Chief Monk Ampitiye Sumanarathana thera has requested redeploy police protection due to alleged death threats by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

The Buddhist monk said that his temple was the only Buddhist religious place in the area and therefore the TNA was trying to remove it. Sumanarathana thera also added that there is a severe increase in the number of death threats over the past few days.

“I have been receiving regular death threats from the TNA for years now, but now the police protection which was given to the temple has been totally removed,” the Chief Monk said.  

Sumanarathana thera added that he lodged a complaint with the Police Headquarters in Colombo but the authorities have still not responded to the complaint.

“If someone harms my life in the future, the police should be held responsible”, the Buddhist monk told reporters.     

However speaking to Asian Mirror, TNA Media Spokesperson and Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran ‘rubbished’ the allegation saying his political party had nothing to do with the temple.

“The Buddhist has been trying to forcibly acquire land for his temple for years now, including ones with schools and paddy fields. His claims are baseless and false”, Premachandran said.

Meanwhile, the same Buddhist monk found himself in the middle of a controversy over a video that was published on several websites, where the monk was seen assaulting an official of the Ceylon Electricity Board while scolding him in obscene language.