Shoot At Sight Orders As Anti-govt Protesters Target Politicians In Sri Lanka
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka refuted the speculations of Rajapaksa and his family fleeing to India, saying that these claims by social media users and media reports were ¡°fake and blatantly false.¡±
Where is former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa? This is the question most of Sri Lanka has been asking since Monday after he resigned from his post amid the out-of-control civil unrest in the country.
The last they heard about the 76-year-old strongman was that he may have fled to a naval base in Trincomalee.
AFP
Where is Rajapaksa?
But even there the former Prime Minister and his family are reportedly not safe as some protesters gathered outside the well-fortified naval base in on the northeastern coast.
There are also reports that Rajapaksa, who is also the elder brother of the current Sri Lankan President has already or is attempting to flee the country, to India.
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka on Tuesday refuted the speculations of Rajapaksa and his family fleeing to India, saying that these claims by social media users and media reports were ¡°fake and blatantly false.¡±
¡°The High Commission has recently noticed rumours circulating in sections of media and social media that certain political persons and their families have fled to India. These are fake and blatantly false reports, devoid of any truth or substance. The High Commission strongly denies them,¡± the High Commission said in a statement.
Rajapaksa is not the only one from Sri Lanka's ruling party who has gone into hiding.
AFP
Since Monday houses and properties of some 40 ruling party politicians have been set on fire by angry protesters.
Play with fire, you get burned
It all began on Monday when scores of Rajapaksa loyalists attacked unarmed protesters camping outside the president's office at the sea-front Galle Face promenade in downtown Colombo since April 9.
Amarakeerthi Athukorala an MP of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party opened fire at a group of protesters who had surrounded his SUV, killing one of them.
Athukorala later took refuge in a nearby building and after it was surrounded by thousands of protesters the MP shot himself dead.
As the violence spread the residence of former Minister Johnston Fernando in Mount Lavinia and the house of MP Sanath Nishantha was attacked by the protesters and set on fire.
AFP
Even the ancestral house of Rajapaksa in the city of Kurunegala in the north-western province was set on fire.
Ruling party Trade Leader Mahinda Kahandagamage's residence in Colombo was also attacked. He was seen leading the charge on the two protest sites just hours before.
#SriLanka has had enough with their corrupt government ?? A former minister's car was thrown into the water by protesters in #Colombo. Residences, properties and vehicles of ruling party members are targeted across the island.
¡ª JacSarobah (@17StQrm) May 10, 2022
@QtimeNetwork (Telegram) pic.twitter.com/g921NEm7NT
Police ordered to go on the offensive
With the violence showing no signs of slowing down, Sri Lankan police have reportedly been ordered to go on the offensive and use live ammunition to prevent "anarchy".
AFP
"We want the whole Rajapaksa clan out because they are so, so corrupt. They have been eating into Sri Lanka like a caterpillar eating into some fruit or leaf," activist Kaushalya Fernando told AFP.
For more on news, sports and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
Read More