Sources said Basil Rajapaksa, brother of Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was barred by the immigration officials and he had to return.
Colombo: According to reports, former Sri Lanka Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s attempt to flee to Dubai was thwarted by protestors on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. Sources said Basil Rajapaksa, brother of Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was barred by the immigration officials and he had to return.
Sri Lanka is currently undergoing a major economic crisis and protests have mounted forcing the leadership of the country to bow before the agitation and either flee, go into hiding or quit their posts. The Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Officers Association told news agency Reuters that its members declined to serve Basil Rajapaksa at the VIP departure lounge of the Colombo airport.
“Given the unrest in Sri Lanka, immigration officials are under tremendous pressure to not allow top-level people to leave the country,” K A S Kanugala, chairman of the association, told Reuters.
“We are concerned for our security. So until this issue is resolved, the immigration officials working at the VIP lounge decided to withdraw their services.”
Thousands of demonstrations who stormed Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s house on Saturday had claimed that they found millions of rupees from there. The protesters, however, have handed over the confiscated money to security forces.
According to unverified videos on social media, protesters could be seen counting money which they claimed to found at President’s property. The protesters, who were barged inside the resident, are still there.
In another video on social media, they could be seen showing high security bunker at the President palace. They were also seen roaming in the compound, inspecting luxury vehicles standing at compound, jumping on beds, taking shower bath and jumping in swimming pools.
