Sri Lanka crisis: President's Office blames extremists group for last night's violence

Colombo, Apr 1: The Sri Lankan President's Media Division on Friday accused an organized group of extremists of provoking the protesters to turn violent on Thursday outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's residence.

The mob was armed with iron clubs, machetes, and sticks, provoked the protesters and marched towards the President's residence at Mirihana Pangiriwatta, triggering violence, a statement from President's Media Division said.

At least 45 people were arrested and a curfew briefly imposed in most parts of Colombo city after hundreds of protesters gathered outside the residence of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa demanding his resignation for failing to address the worst economic crisis in the island nation.

It also claims that most of them who created ruckus leading to violence have been arrested and it was identified that a majority of them were an organized group of extremists. The statement further alleged that they had spearheaded the campaign calling for an Arab Spring in Sri Lanka.

The riot was carried out using social media anonymously to provoke the people and destabilize the country, the statement added.

A foreign exchange crunch in Sri Lanka has led to a shortage of essential goods such as fuel, cooking gas, and power cuts that last up to 13 hours a day. On Thursday protesters shouted slogans, directing their ire against what they perceive as the Rajapaksa regime's gross mismanagement that has exacerbated Sri Lanka's foreign-exchange woes.

They also demanded President Rajapaksa's resignation. According to the police, in the protest several, including five policemen, were injured while vehicles were set on fire as a spontaneous expression of public anger over the current economic crisis turned violent.

"As of now 45 people have been arrested. Five policemen were injured while a police bus, a Jeep and two motorcycles were burnt. The protesters had also caused damage to a police water cannon truck," a senior police official said.

A curfew was imposed at midnight on Thursday covering most parts of the Colombo district and the suburban police division of Kelaniya but was lifted at 5 am on Friday morning. In the Kelaniya area, protesters had blocked the main Colombo-Kandy road.

Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis in history. With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts the public has been suffering for weeks. Rajapaksa has defended his government's actions, saying the foreign exchange crisis was not his making and the economic downturn was largely pandemic driven where the island's tourism revenue and inward remittances waning.