Lawyer Shiran Nurdeen, who appeared on behalf of the suspects who were arrested in connection with the clash in Dharga Town on Saturday, said the Police did not take measures to prevent the incident.

The lawyer said it was the Army who stepped in and resolved the issue without turning it into a major clash while the Police appeared to be clueless.

He also added the Police turned a blind eye to a complaint lodged by a Muslim lady and a youth over an assault. “Everyone who was arrested in connection with the incident,” the lawyer said, “are Muslims.”

“It doesn’t seem as if the Police is fair and unbiased when it comes to implementing law. The arrests, we believe, are selective, “ Nurdeen said yesterday while speaking to the Sinhala service of the BBC.

“They could have easily resolved this before a samatha mandalaya. Police blew it out of proportion. The incident was merely a dispute between two parties,” he added.

The incident occurred on Saturday (1) during a football match when a clash broke out between a group of Muslims and another group.

“This is not the first time the Aluthgama police acted in this manner. We have already taken steps to lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka over the matter”, he said.

In response to Shiran Nurdeen’s accusations, Police media spokesman Ajith Rohana has said that the police acted accordingly and that they did not acted in a  biased manner towards any group when conducting investigations.