Sri Lanka Crisis: Court Bans Former PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, 16 Others From Leaving Country

The magisterial order comes as a response to a request by the police who are conducting the probe into the incident of violence.

Mahinda Rajapaksa ( Image Source :Twitter )

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing political tension, a Sri Lankan court on Thursday has imposed travel ban on former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his son and MP Namal Rajapaksa and 15 others. According to reports, they have been restricted from overseas travel in the light of investigations against them for the attack on anti-government protestors in Colombo earlier this week.

As per a report by news agency PTI, due to the probe on the attacks on GotaGoGama and MynaGoGama protests on Monday, that led to the death of nine people and over 300 others were injured, the Fort Magistrate's Court asked them to surrender their passports till the investigation is underway.         

It is to be noted that the magisterial order comes as a response to a request by the police who are conducting the probe into the incident of violence.

Among the ones on whom the overseas travel ban has been imposed include 13 legislators representing the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), including Johnston Fernando, Sanath Nishantha, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, C B Ratnayake, and Sanjeewa Edirimanne, along with Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) of the Western Province Deshabandu Tennakoon.

Notably, the group was accused of attacking the protestors opposite Mahinda Rajapaksa's prime ministerial residence and near the secretariat of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.  

Rajapaksa, in a show of strength, rallied his supporters to force him not to resign as the prime minister. However, by then the pressure had mounted on him from within the ruling coalition, to resign for the formation of an interim all-party government.

Rajapaksa, in a passionate speech, charged up the supporters who attacked the protesters that had been demanding the resignation of the Rajapaksas for weeks, blaming them for the country's worst economic crisis.