Sri Lanka in chaos as MP shot dead, PM Rajapaksa resigns & protestors grow angry

Food and fuel shortages, skyrocketing prices, and power outages are hurting a large number of Sri Lankans, leading in massive protests against the government’s handling of the situation.

Sri Lanka is experiencing food and fuel shortages, skyrocketing prices, and power outages which are hurting a large number of Sri Lankans, leading to massive protests against the government’s handling of the situation.

Economic crisis in Sri Lanka

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An AFP correspondent reported shots were fired from inside the Sri Lankan prime minister’s official mansion on Monday. As thousands of protestors broke through the main gate and set fire to a parked truck.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa announced his resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa through Twitter. Following a brutal attack on protestors by government supporters. Causing authorities to deploy armed troops in Colombo.

The curfew that was imposed in Sri Lanka for a few hours. Which ill be lifted on Tuesday at 7 a.m., according to the Sri Lankan police. The curfew was implemented with immediate effect. After skirmishes erupted in the Galle Face district of Colombo’s Western Province on Monday. According to the Daily Mirror.

According to the DailyMirror newspaper, the Rajapaksa family’s ancestral home in the southern district of Hambantota was set on fire. And police were forced to deploy tear gas to disperse demonstrators. Who attempted to storm the prime minister’s villa in Colombo’s Temple Trees suburb.

Sri Lanka witnesses violent rage

Earlier in the day, dozens of buses used by Rajapaksa supporters to come to Colombo were torched or damaged. A crowd pushed a leader of a pro-government group off of their bus. And placed him into a rubbish cart before ramming the vehicle with a bulldozer in the Maharagama suburb.

According to police spokeswoman Nihal Thalduwa, four people were killed in Monday’s violence, including a politician from the ruling party. On Monday evening, President Rajapaksa announced a nationwide curfew that will remain until Wednesday morning.

Protests in Sri Lanka, which is on the verge of bankruptcy and has delayed payments on its foreign debt, have been fueled by rising prices of everything from gasoline to crucial medicines.

Sri Lanka has been in talks with the IMF to put up a rescue package, but its success is contingent on debt restructuring negotiations with creditors. Any long-term strategy would require at least six months to implement.

Sri Lanka MP kills victim and self 

After reducing taxes in 2019 and trying to collect taxes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sri Lankan government has been running large budget deficits. It has also accumulated significant foreign debt. Much of which is owing to China. And has insufficient foreign exchange reserves to pay for imports and protect its beleaguered rupee.

Sri Lankan stocks, which have been the worst performers in the world this year, had surged on Monday before the violence on hopes of a new government taking power.

Furthermore, lawmaker Amarakeerthi Athukorala was a member of the ruling party. He shot a 27-year-old man to death and succeeded in an attempt to take his own life, reports said.

Amarakeerthi Athukorala allegedly opened fire. And wounded 2 protestors. Who were seen blocking his car in the town of the Nittambuwa, police said. Moreover, 1 of the 2 the victims already died as a result of critical internal injuries.