Police imposed indefinite curfews in central Sri Lanka Sunday amid fears of rioting during the funerals of Tamil inmates killed in an open-prison massacre, officials said.
The curfew was slapped from noon (0600 GMT) in the central town of Nuraw Eliya and neighboring areas as Tamil residents demonstrated against Wednesday's massacre in which 26 Tamil inmates were killed.
"There is a tense situation. Vehicles have been stoned by protestors who demand that they must display a white flag as a sign of mourning," a local police official in Nuwara Eliya, 180 kilometers (112 miles) east of here said.
He said the curfew was imposed as a precautionary measure to prevent any escalation of tensions that could lead to rioting.
Local Tamil residents were protesting the massacre of 26 Tamil inmates by mobs from the majority Sinhalese community in the nearby Bandarawela town on Wednesday – COLOMBO (AFP)
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