The Police are recording information of residents in Colombo, and other areas, including their ethnicity, Parliament was informed today.
Public Security Minister Tiran Alles told Parliament that recording the details of residents in Colombo and other parts of the country was a continuing process and was nothing new.
He denied claims the religion of the public were being recorded by the Police.
The Minister was responding to concerns raised by opposition MP Mano Ganesan.
The MP alleged that Tamils in Colombo were once again the target of a Police operation to record their details.
However, Alles insisted that not just Tamils but the details of even Sinhalese people were being recorded.
He said this was being carried out as a security measure to identify any criminals who have moved to other parts of the country.