A protest by hundreds of people trying to storm the home of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa turned violent Thursday, with at least one man critically wounded.
Sri Lanka on Friday lifted an overnight curfew that was imposed in several parts of Colombo after protestors tried to storm President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s home over the government’s handling of the country’s economic crisis, Daily Mirror reported.
On Thursday night, security forces fired bullets into the crowd and used teargas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators, who were asking Rajapaksa to resign.
The curfew had been imposed in six police divisions of Colombo. It was lifted at 5 am on Friday, police spokesperson SSP Nihal Thalduwa told Daily Mirror.
Protesters set fire to an army bus parked across the lane leading to Rajapaksa's home in Colombo's Mirihana residential quarter, as well as a police vehicle. They also toppled a neighbour's wall and used bricks to attack officers and troops.
Official sources told AFP that Rajapaksa was not at home during the melee, but top military officials went into a huddle to discuss the crisis.
Diesel shortages had sparked outrage across Sri Lanka in recent days, but the protests had so far been in towns and not aimed at any top leader, before Thursday's events.
Diesel -- the main fuel for buses and commercial vehicles -- was unavailable at stations across the island on Thursday, according to officials and media reports -- crippling public transport.
ZZ/PR