Colombo, Jul 13 (PTI) Sri Lanka on Wednesday declared a state of emergency after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on a military jet in the face of a public revolt against his government for mishandling the country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s Office informed the media organisations that the state of emergency in the country and a curfew in the Western province had been imposed.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister has also ordered the security forces to arrest people acting in a riotous manner and to seize their vehicles.<\/p>\n

Earlier the Police fired tear gas on protesters who gathered near the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at Flower Road, Colombo.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, protesters marched to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe\u2019s office on Flower Street, calling for his resignation after the news came in that President Rajapaksa had fled to the Maldives.<\/p>\n

The Police fired tear gas on protesters who had gathered near the PM office. The protesters broke through a barricade despite tear gas and stormed the prime minister’s office.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has already said he was willing to resign and make way for an all-party government to take over.<\/p>\n

Protestors also gathered around the Parliament Speaker’s residence. The military was deployed to control the situation, the Colombo Gazette news portal reported.<\/p>\n

The US Embassy in Colombo has cancelled its services as a precaution for the next two days. PTI CORR AMS ZH AMS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span> Colombo, Jul 13 (PTI) Sri Lanka on Wednesday declared a state of emergency after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on a military jet in the face of a public revolt against his government for mishandling the country\u2019s economy. The Prime Minister\u2019s Office informed the media organisations that the state of emergency in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273,"featured_media":356433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[321],"tags":[1115,21141,317,646],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n