WEB DESK
A day after Mahinda Rajapaksa quit as prime minister of Sri Lanka, there have been reports that the 76-year-old and his family members have fled to India. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka, however, on Tuesday (May 10, 2022) refuted as “fake and blatantly false” local social media speculation that the patriarch of the powerful Rajapaksa family has fled to India.
“The High Commission has recently noticed rumours circulating in sections of media and social media that certain political persons and their families have fled to India. These are fake and blatantly false reports, devoid of any truth or substance. The High Commission strongly denies them”, a statement said.
Mahinda, notably, resigned as prime minister amid unprecedented economic turmoil in Sri Lanka on Monday, hours after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters.
The whereabouts of Mahinda Rajapaksa are being speculated since his resignation and it was reported that he left his office-cum-official residence, Temple Trees, early Tuesday morning.
There were also reports that he had taken refuge at the Naval Base in the eastern port district of Trincomalee.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s top civil aviation official on Tuesday also rejected social media speculation and asserted that he was not involved in the “illegal transport and removal of any person or persons from Sri Lanka.”