Tense situation at Boragoda

A tense situation arose when the police officers of Anuradhapura attempted to remove a group of villagers who were engaged in a protest campaign by blocking the Anuradhapura-kurunegala main road in Boragoda area in Srawasthipura by forcing the Department of Wildlife to take necessary steps to prevent wild elephants entering their villages.

A team of police officers including SP Chulani Weeraratna and HQI Anuradhapura IP Sanjeewa Mahanama who arrived requested the protesters not to block the road.

The protesters alleged that the Department of Wildlife are not properly maintaining the electric fence constructed in the area and said that wild elephants have killed several people in the area and have destroyed crops of the villages and were not agreeable with the police to stop the protest. They said that they are not going to stop the protest until a responsible person comes and promise them a reasonable solution. They further said that though they have repeatedly requested the Government authorities to give a permanent solution for this menace, so far no response was received.