Houses belonging to Muslim families allegedly burnt down by a Buddhist mob in Aluthgama, Sri Lanka in June 2014. Image via Flickr by Vikalpa|Groundviews|Maatram. CC BY 2.0 On Wednesday, March 7, 2018, the Sri Lankan government declared a nationwide state of emergency for 10 days to stop the communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in central Sri Lanka and bring the perpetrators to justice: #SriLanka forced to declare 10 day emergency following #AntiMuslimViolence #lka #Digana #Teldeniya https://t.co/KDrwtXhQql pic.twitter.com/iD4W6kq0Ib — JDS (@JDSLanka) March 6, 2018 BBC reporter and producer Sinhala Azzam Ameen tweets: Sri Lanka declares its first state of emergency in 7 years, Under the state of emergency, the authorities are able to arrest and detain suspects for long periods, and deploy forces where needed https://t.co/k2h6hJqzsY — Azzam Ameen (@AzzamAmeen) March 6, 2018 The violence began on the night of Sunday, March 4 in several villages of the Kandy district in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, as Buddhist mobs attacked dozens of Muslim businesses, a few mosques, and houses. The root of the violence lies in an altercation between three or four of allegedly drunk youths in a three-wheeler and Heepitiyegedara Kumarasinghe, a 41-year-old Sinhalese lorry driver, that took place on February 22 in the village of Teldeniya near the city of Kandy. Reportedly, the altercation was due to a traffic incident and was not racially or ethnically motivated. Kumarasinghe and his assistant were beaten up by the group of youths and admitted to hospital. Police have so far arrested three suspects in connection with the crime. The suspects are all Muslim youth from Digana, Kandy. Location of Kandy in Sri Lanka. Image via Wikimedia Commons by user NordNordWest,. CC BY-SA 3.0 On the night of Friday, March 2, Kumarasinghe succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at Kandy General Hospital, which prompted local protests. Reportedly, Kumarasinghe's family was compensated and the matter was amicably settled between the local Muslim and Buddhist communities to relieve any tension between these groups. However, violence erupted on Sunday night into Monday on March 5 in places like Teldeniya and the village of Digana in the Kandy district, with many Muslim shops and houses burned to the ground by radical Sinhalese Buddhist mobs. Local schools remained closed in the wake of the violence. Local leaders say that mobs came in from other parts of the country to instigate the riot and police did not do enough. Tisaranee Gunasekara wrote on Groundviews: If the anti-Muslim riot in Teldeniya was a spontaneous explosion of anger, it should have happened either on the day of the assault or on the day the victim died. But up to the evening of March 4th, Teldeniya didn’t explode. On the evening of March 4th Bhikku (Monk) Galagoda-Atte Gnanasara (Secretary General of Bodu Bala Sena, a Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist organisation) visited the funeral house. A couple of hours later the first attacks began. In Teldeniya village, social media pages rallied Sinhalese Buddhist mobs to assemble at 10am on March 5, 2018. From around 1am, the destruction of Muslim properties began. Journalist Dharisha tweets: Government condemns hate and misinformation campaigns carried out especially via social media, targeting the Muslim community in particular in another statement issued tonight #Digana — dharisha (@tingilye) March 5, 2018 At least one death has been reported due to the riots. The body of 24-year-old Muslim youth Abdul Basith was pulled out of the rubbles as his home was destroyed by arson. Police arrested dozens of people connected to that incident. The police fired tear gas to disperse crowds at Teldeniya police station who gathered to appeal for those arrested to be freed. When they could not control the situation, the army had to be called in and a local curfew was imposed. By March 7, a total of four mosques, 37 houses, 46 shops and dozens of vehicles were damaged or destroyed as a result of the riots in both Digana and other locations in the Kandy District. A group of Sinhalese Buddhist citizens and Buddhist clergy held a protest demanding the release of all Buddhist suspects arrested for their involvement in the riots. “Four mosques, 37 houses, 46 shops and 35 vehicles damaged in Digana and Teldeniya area due to attacks,” Central Provincial Councillor Hidaayath Satthar #Digana pic.twitter.com/oQBZGjDlYp — Azzam Ameen (@AzzamAmeen) March 6, 2018 This video shows some of the damage as a result of the violence in Teldeniya: Muslims make up roughly 10 percent of Sri Lanka's population of about 21 million.