COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police on Saturday arrested a 21-year-old Moulavi for making hoax calls over a possible attack on a mosque in the Central province.
The hoax call said that an attack would take place on a mosque in Akurana City, Kandy District, police said.
The suspect called the 118 emergency number operating under the Ministry of Defence on April 18 night and anonymously provided the authorities with false information about a bomb attack on a mosque in the Akurana area on April 19, the police spokesman and Superintendent Nihal Thalduwa told reporters.
Following the false tip-off, the security forces took immediate action and sent several special police teams and military personnel to the area to beef up security for mosques.
However, the police cybercrime division investigation led to the arrest of Isadeen Mohammad who confirmed they were hoax calls, Thalduwa said.
The news of the possible attack on the mosque at a predominantly Muslim minority area came ahead of the fourth anniversary of the Easter Sunday 2019 suicide attacks on April 21.
The Muslim jihadi group's suicide attacks on hotels and churches killed 270 people, including Indians.
The Catholic community remains dissatisfied with the four-year investigation.