Sri Lanka police investigate attack on statues in East

Sri Lanka police have ordered a probe into the vandalization of several statues in the Batticaloa city of Eastern Province Thursday night, the External Affairs Ministry said today.
Statues of Indian independence icon Mahatma Gandhi and the founder of the scout movement Robert Baden-Powell, which stood in the center of Batticaloa town, have been found decapitated by some unknown culprits. Two other statues of a poet and a religious leader have also been found vandalized. "The Inspector General of Police has been instructed to carry out an immediate and thorough investigation into these incidents to identify motives and culprits behind these acts of vandalism," the Ministry said. No one had claimed responsibility for the attacks yet. However, foreign media reports speculate that the attack may have been an act to protest India's and Britain's support for the UN resolution against Sri Lanka that was adapted at the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva last month.