Chanaka Balasuryla said that he "panicked" when he saw thugs "kicking in the doors" of his shop, the Windsor Mini Mart on Sussex Street, close to the mosque targeted by far-right rioters on Tuesday night.Mr Balasuryla said that the vandalism was particularly painful, given that he had built his business up from scratch over several years.He added that neighbours had come over to help clean up on Wednesday morning.
just to see it, and then unfortunately, when they kicked in the doors, I was panicked. And I was emotionally charged a little bit. He added that his family saw the footage as well "so, they were upset, they were crying." Mr Balasuriya said that he had closed the shop on Tuesday evening "to respect people." "The people are not from here, I don’t recognise any of their faces,” Mr Balasuryla told LBC. "It’s not right. They have other things in their mind.