The order comes after mobs torched houses belonging to ruling party politicians. At least eight people including two policemen have been killed as violent protests over economic crisis continue despite a curfew
Security personnel walk past a burned vehicle along a road, a day after they were torched by protesters in Colombo on 10 May, 2022. (AFP)
A shoot-on-sight order was issued in Sri Lanka on Tuesday as protests against the ruling establishment continue to turn violent.
“Security forces have been ordered to shoot-on-sight anyone looting public property or causing harm to life,” the country’s Defence Ministry said.
The order comes after a mob attacked a top police officer and torched his vehicle near the prime minister’s official residence in Colombo.
Senior Deputy Inspector-General Deshabandu Tennakoon, the highest-ranking officer in Colombo “required emergency treatment and has returned home,” a senior police official told AFP.
He said reinforcements rushed to the area and fired warning shots to rescue the officer who came under attack despite a nationwide curfew.
On Monday, protesters set ablaze houses belonging to several ruling party politicians. The ancestral home of former PM Mahinda Rajapaksa was also torched.
President urges calm
Meanwhile, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has urged people to “remain calm and stop the violence”.
Taking to Twitter, he said, “All efforts will be made to restore political stability through consensus, within constitutional mandate & to resolve the economic crisis.”
The death toll in the unrest has risen to eight. Police said Tuesday people, including two policemen, were killed and 65 homes damaged during the violence overnight. Forty-one of the homes were burned.
Official figures showed that 88 cars and busses were destroyed along with hundreds of motorcycles.
People continue to hit the streets despite a curfew. The country is under a state of emergency since Friday giving sweeping powers to the military to arrest and detain suspects.
Mahinda Rajapaksa takes refuge in a naval base
Earlier in the day, Gotabaya’s elder brother and former PM Mahinda and his family took refuge at a naval base in Trincomalee city, local media reported.
Protesters gathered outside the naval base amid speculations that the Rajapaksas were trying to flee the country.
Demonstrators set up a checkpoint on the road leading to the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo to prevent the Rajapaksa family loyalists from fleeing the country.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s resignation as the PM on Monday failed to assuage protesters who have been angry at the powerful clan’s economic mismanagement.
With inputs from AFP
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