625 Qurans seized; later released

31 December 2017 04:40 pm

The Kalpitiya Police yesterday seized 625 Qurans on that suspicion that they were meant to be distributed among the mosques in the area during the election period.

The police said the books were taken into custody from a house of a UNP candidate contesting the LG elections.

However, investigations had revealed that the Qurans had been sent by the candidate's brother who lives in Qatar for religious purposes.

Police said they were directed to release the Qurans after the matter was taken up by district election officials but the candidate had refused to take them back until after the election.

Meanwhile, 44 people were arrested on charges of election violations so far. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)