VIDEO | This Sri Lankan cop received applause from protesters. Why?
Thousands of protesters in Colombo broke through the barricades and stormed Rajapaksa's residence in one of the largest anti-government protests in the country hit by acute economic crisis, several agencies and Sri Lankan media reported.
The chorus for Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation as Sri Lankan president intensified as protesters stormed his residence in Colombo. The under-fire president has reportedly fled amid the protests.
A video of a police officer joining the protests has now gone viral. In a video shared by a Sri Lankan journalist, the cop parks his bike, throws away his helmet and starts raising slogans expressing support for the protesters.
The police officer was welcomed by an applause from the protesters who lauded his participation in the protests.
Thousands of protesters in Colombo broke through the barricades and stormed Rajapaksa's residence in one of the largest anti-government protests in the country hit by acute economic crisis, several agencies and Sri Lankan media reported.
The protesters holding Lankan flags and helmets broke into the president's residence, video footage from local media showed. A Facebook livestream from inside the president's house showed hundreds of protesters, some draped in flags, packing into rooms and corridors, shouting slogan's against Rajapaksa .
At least 21 people including two police personnel were injured and hospitalised, Reuters reported. Sri Lanka is struggling under a severe foreign exchange crisis that has resulted in shortage of essential imports of fuel, food and medicine.
Many blame the country's decline on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Largely peaceful protests since March have demanded his resignation.
Thousands of people swarmed into Colombo's government district, shouting slogans against the president and dismantling several police barricades to reach Rajapaksa's house, a Reuters witness said.