Sri Lanka, Aug. 17 -- Organisers decided to cancel the eighty-third annual Esala festival at the Modara Devalaya in Ambalangoda due to a clash between two alleged organised criminals.

Police noted that committee members received telephone threats warning them against organising the event, leading the secretary, assistant secretary, and other members to leave the area while one person went abroad.

The dispute stems from a clash between the jailed alleged organised criminal known as Loku Pati and Karandeniya Sudda, another alleged organised criminal who fled the country.

Investigations previously revealed that the temple's former committee chairman died in a shooting near the Ambalangoda Urban Council on November 4 last year, while the t...