Sri Lanka Crisis: Travel ban extended for Mahinda and Basil Rajapaksa; CID arrests protesters for alleged crimes

Colombo, Aug 4: The Sri Lanka Supreme Court on Wednesday (Aug 3) extended the travel ban imposed on Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa until Aug 11. The Sri Lanka Supreme Court had earlier issued an interim order that prevented former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa from leaving the country without the court's permission until Jul 28.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, three suspects were arrested on Tuesday (Aug 2) by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Sri Lanka for allegedly setting ablaze President Ranil Wickremesinghe's private residence in Colombo on Jul 9. According to the police, two of the three suspects were aged 18 and 22 and belonged to Madapatha and Colombo respectively. They were detained yesterday (Aug 3) in the Piliyandala and Narahenpita areas. The details of the third suspect were not immediately available.

 

 

 

 

 

Four suspects were previously detained by the police in connection with the incident, and the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court remanded them until Aug 10. A group of protesters on Jul 9 had entered the private residence of Wickremesinghe and set it on fire, hours after he offered to resign as prime minister, to make way for an all-party government amid unprecedented protests in the country for the resignation of the govt led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

 

 

The protestors entered 73-year-old Wickremesinghe's house on 5th Lane in Colombo and set the place on fire following a tense situation that erupted between the protestors and security forces on the ground.