A curfew had to be temporarily imposed in central Sri Lanka after Buddhist mobs attacked a mosque and burned shops and houses belonging to Muslims.

The police curfew, which was imposed in the Kandy district on Monday, was lifted early on Tuesday, according to police spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara.

The spokesman said that security had, however, been tightened in the Teldeniya and Digana areas even as the situation had been brought under control.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara confirmed the imposition of the curfew but declined to provide details on injuries and property damage.

The government said in a statement that police were put on alert to prevent the violence from spreading and asked people to “act with responsibility and remain calm.”

At least 11 shops and homes were set on fire, said Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon, the chief executive of the Sri Lanka-based Center for Human Rights and Research group.

The human rights advocate condemned the “unfathomable police inefficiency” that he said had led to the violence.