encroaching the island systematically and promoting subversion against Rajasinghe. The Batticaloa fort was built by the Portuguese in 1628 and was the first to be captured by the Dutch (18 May 1638). It is one of the most picturesque of the small Dutch fort of Sri Lanka, it's situated in an island, still in good condition. World War II In 1942, during World War II, the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and escorting destroyer HMAS Vampire were stationed at Trincomalee. Both these ships came under Japanese aerial attack off Batticaloa and were sunk. Some of the remnants of HMS Hermes still remain at around off Baticaloa. 2004 tsunami The town was also one of the worst hit during the tsunami of December 26, 2004. The water rose up to within 90 minutes of the beginning of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. 2019 Easter Bombings On 21 April 2019 the Zion Church was targeted by militant Islamic suicide bombers. At least 28 people were reported dead. Modern Batticaloa Town The city has four main divisions. Puliyanthivu: Seat of many government department and offices, schools, banks religious places, General Hospital, Weber Stadium and Shops. It was a place for NGO offices including ICRC, UN, UNICEF, World Vision, etc. Koddamunai: Schools, Banks, Sri Lanka Telecom regional office for East, Shops and many government offices are located. Two bridges called Perya Palam and Puthuppalam are connects Pulianthivu island with Koddaminai land mass. Kallady: Here there are many Government buildings and private industries, schools, hospitals and Eastern University Medical Faculty. Kallady Lady Manning bridge connects Kallady and Arasay. Puthur: This is where the domestic airport of Batticaloa is located. Demography Batticaloa is on the East coast of Sri Lanka, 314 km from Colombo. The population of 95,489 consists mainly of Sri Lankan Tamils others include Moors, Sinhalese, Burghers and the indigenous Veddas population. The District of Batticaloa itself consists of several administrative divisions, which are: Manmunai North, Manmunai West, Manmunai South & Eruvil Pattu, Manmunai Pattu, Koralai Pattu North, Porativu Pattu, Kattankudy, Eravur Pattu, Eravur Town, Koralai Pattu and Koralai Pattu West. Some 525,142 persons (52.2% female) were recorded in the 2012 census. Religion-based statistics in the year 2012 are: Hindus 64.6%, Muslims 25.5%, Christians 8.8%, with a small numbers of Buddhists (1.1%) and others. These figures became even more polarized towards Hindus during the LTTE occupation which came to an end in 2009 (see Eelam