Protestors storm Lanka PM's official residence; shots fired

Shots have been fired at Sri Lankan prime minister’s official residence Monday after thousands of protesters stormed the building and torched a parked truck, as per media reports.

Earlier, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned and a nationwide curfew was clamped.

Meanwhile, the ancestral home of the Rajapaksas in Hambantota has been set on fire by a group of anti-government protestors, hours after Mahinda Rajapaksa, the patriarch of the powerful clan resigned.

Video footage showed the entire house of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Medamulana in Hambantota city was burning away as protestors hooted away, the Daily Mirror reported.

Earlier, several properties of ministers and lawmakers of the ruling coalition were destroyed by the protesters. Sri Lankan media also reported that a fire has broken out near the back gate of Temple Trees, the official residence of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister here.
Police water cannons have been called but anti-government protesters are attacking the vehicles, the report said.

Protesters have also attacked the house of Badulla District parliamentarian Tissa Kuttiarachch and later set it on fire. The house of Puttalam MP Santha Nishantha was completely destroyed due to an arson attack.

The arson attacks came as the island was placed under curfew after violent clashes between Mahinda Rajapaksa supporters and anti-government protesters in Colombo.

Three people were killed, including a ruling party MP, and more than 150 injured in violence in the capital.

There have been protests over soaring prices and power cuts since last month.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.

(With Agency reports)

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