Mar 10, Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has decided to appoint a Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate the communal clashes erupted in certain parts of the Kandy District during the past few days.

Accordingly, a committee comprising three retired judges will be named in future.

The Committee will investigate whether any violation of law and order is among the reasons for the clashes, evaluate the damages to lives and properties, probe whether there was any conspiratorial hand behind the incidents, recommend steps need to be taken to prevent such incidents in the future, and look into the conduct of relevant authorities in controlling the situation and their accountability.

According to police, three people died, 20 others were wounded and more than 200 Muslim-owned businesses and homes were destroyed in four days of rioting that started on Monday following the funeral of a Sinhalese man, who died from injuries sustained in an assault by Muslim youths.

The government deployed the tri forces and imposed a curfew from Wednesday in the Kandy Administrative district when the police were unable to control the Sinhala mob attacking Muslim establishments, shops and mosques.