The catholic church will hold a two hour prayer meeting and holy mass at St. Peter's church grounds, Negombo on Sunday June 3 to draw attention of the government to the ongoing "crime" wave, a spokesman for the church said yesterday.

"We decided to call for this meeting following the recent cold-blooded murder of 76-year-old Rev. Father Alfred Bernard Costa affectionately known as Aba Costa. The veteran artist priest was killed inside the mission house of the St. Joseph’s Church, Malwatte in Negombo. He was a poet, lyricist and artist."

The church’s hierarchy will be present.

The spokesman said that they were seriously concerned over killings, prostitution, narcotics trade and child abuse and apparent failure of the law enforcement authorities to curb them.

The church has expressed concern over police investigations into the priest’s slaying, the sources said.

Two persons identified as Kotagalage Gamini alias "Kudu" Gamini of No 79, Thaladuwa Road and Kurukulasuriya Pradeep Roshan alias Neranjan of No 96, of Agaradaguru Mawatha had been arrested in connection with the killing. But, police headquarters a few days ago directed a special probe on the priest killing following claims that the Negombo police had failed to conduct a proper investigation.