Ex-Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, family flee to naval base, protests erupt: Report

A protest began in front of the Trinncomalee Navy Base Sri Lanka on Tuesday after the report emerged that former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and some of his family members were there after leaving an official residence in Colombo, a media report said.

Violence erupted in Sri Lanka on Monday after the supporters of the Prime Minister at that time Mahinda Rajapaksa attacked a peaceful anti-government protector who demanded his dismissal of the worst economic crisis in the country which caused acute deficiencies of staple, fuel and electricity.

A protest had begun in front of the Trincomalee Navy Base after Mahinda Rajapaksa’s report and some of his family members were there after leaving the Temple Tree, the official residence of the Prime Minister, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

Trincomalee is a port city on the northeast coast of Sri Lanka.

On Monday, violence saw a fire attack at the houses of several politicians, including the ancestral house of Rajapaksas in Hambantota.

Video footage shows all Mahinda Rajapaksa’s house and her younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Medamulana in Hambantota City caught fire.

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s house in Kurunegala was also burned by protesters while the hordes also destroyed D Rajapaksa – which was built to commemorate Mahinda and Gotabaya’s father – in Medamulana, Hambantota.

There was a protest at the soaring price and cutting power since last month. ‘Sri Lanka faced the worst economic crisis since getting independence from Britain in 1948.

This crisis is partly caused by a lack of foreign currencies, which means that the country is unable to pay the import of staple food and fuel, which causes acute deficiencies and very high prices.