Protesters claim millions found inside Sri Lanka President’s house: Report

The thousands of protesters who stormed the presidential palace in Colombo on Saturday claimed to have found millions of rupees inside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s mansion.

A video is being shared on social media showing the protesters counting the currency notes that were unearthed. The recovered money was said to be handed over to the security units, according to the Daily Mirror newspaper.

Authorities have informed that they will take steps to announce the ground situation after probing the relevant facts, the newspaper further reported.

On Saturday, thousands of protestors stormed the presidential palace in Colombo and made themselves home, enjoying the luxuries reserved for the President and his family. The protesters were seen taking dips in the swimming pool, working out at the presidential gym, and gorging on the food in the President’s kitchen.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, meanwhile, was forced to flee amid the escalating violence and demand for his resignation.

THE CRISIS

Rajapaksa appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May in the hope that the career politician would use his diplomacy and contacts to resuscitate a collapsed economy. But people’s patience wore thin as shortages of fuel, medicine and cooking gas only increased and oil reserves ran dry. Authorities have also temporarily shuttered schools.

The country is relying on aid from India and other nations as leaders try to negotiate a bailout with the International Monetary Fund. Wickremesinghe said recently that negotiations with the IMF were complex because Sri Lanka was now a bankrupt state.

Sri Lanka announced in April that it was suspending repayment of foreign loans due to a foreign currency shortage. Its total foreign debt amounts to $51 billion, of which it must repay $28 billion by the end of 2027.

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