Local police evicted 376 people Thursday who were from the country's Tamil-populated northern and eastern areas, which provoked resentment among Lankan political parties and human rights activists.
The police said the Tamils had given no reason for their presence in the capital. A local research organization, Center for Policy Alternatives, lodged a complaint with the police and prosecutor general, who ruled to halt the evictions before the court hearing scheduled for June 22.
The police cited "security reasons" for Thursday's expulsion against the backdrop of recent blasts perpetrated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Colombo late May.
Tamil separatist have been fighting to establish an independent state in the northern and eastern parts of the island since 1983. Armed clashes on the island were resumed 18 months ago when Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan authorities broke a truce negotiated in 2002.
