Sri Lankan Buddhist Monk Arrested For Killing Policeman

A Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka has been arrested 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.

The monk, 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 later died at the hospital.

This is the first known case of a monk killing a policeman, the police 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.