Colombo, July 11 (PTI): A Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka has been taken into custody for allegedly killing a policeman who had come to arrest him in connection with a sexual abuse case, police has said.
The policeman had gone to arrest the 37-year-old monk, identified as Konwalane Dhammasara Thera, who lived alone in the southeastern Ratnapura region’s Galanda Temple.
Thera, who was to be arrested as he evaded summons to appear in a court related to the case, strangled the unarmed police sergeant and stabbed him with a knife yesterday, a police officer said.
Nearby residents who heard the policeman’s cries rushed to the temple and took him to a hospital and alerted the police. The police officer succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
This is the first known case of a monk killing apoliceman, they said.
A Buddhist monk was charged with murder in 1959 for the assassination of the then prime minister SWRD Bandaranaike. He was hanged in 1962.
