Colombo:Hours after Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Monday amid the economic crisis that has triggered massive protests across the country, his ancestral house in Colombo was set on fire. As protests intensified, a sitting legislator from the ruling party was one among the two, who died in the clashes. The anti-government protesters also set on fire the official residences of a few other MPs and a Mayor.
According to reports, MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala was found dead in a building he had taken refuge in after he opened fire and wounded some people blocking his car in Nittambuwa. Protesters also set fire to the official residences of Moratuwa Mayor Saman Lal Fernando and MPs Sanath Nishantha, Ramesh Pathirana, Mahipala Herath, Thissa Kuttiarachchi, and Nimal Lanza. At least a hundred people have been injured during the violent clashes as the country is witnessing the worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948.
Rajapaksa's spokesman Rohan Weliwita, as per local reports, said the PM has sent his letter of resignation to his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. "I am resigning with immediate effect so that you will be able to appoint an all-party government to guide the country out of the current economic crisis," the resignation letter read.
The resignation comes on the day when authorities in Sri Lanka have imposed a nationwide curfew and Army troops have been deployed in the capital after pro-government groups attacked protesters outside embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office, leaving at least 23 people injured.