An earlier incident, where a confrontation between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Army destroyed many houses, also added to the fear of the people.
[1][4] Survivors and witnesses of the attack claimed that a group of armed men in shorts and blue T-shirts shot indiscriminately at houses.
To ensure that the second had more of an impact, an attacker put his hand through one window that had not been properly shut and rolled it along the ground into the most populated area of the Church.
In addition to the damages to the houses, a further 40 boats and 45 wadiyas were destroyed in the incident, and it is estimated that their losses exceeded 50 million rupees (₹50,000,000).
The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense website also accused the local Roman Catholic bishop, Rayappu Joseph, of being a rebel sympathizer.
[3] Bishop Rayappu Joshep, in a letter to the Vatican, claimed that the Church "has been desecrated by innocent blood being shed [in it] by unjust aggressors, the Sri Lanka Navy".
A priest from the diocese also claimed “From what I heard from reliable sources, the hand grenade lobbed inside the church was indeed thrown by a member of the navy.”[5]