Sri Lanka imposes curfew after protests outside President Rajapaksa’s home turn violent
India Today
The government imposed an overnight curfew in several parts of Colombo after protests outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's home over the worsening economic crisis in the country turned violent.
Police imposed an overnight curfew in several parts of Sri Lanka's main city of Colombo early on Friday after protests over the government's handling of the country's worst economic crisis in decades turned violent, an official said.
Hundreds of protesters gathered near President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's private residence in a Colombo suburb late on Thursday and were broken up by police using tear gas and water cannons, a Reuters witness said.
READ | What is happening in Sri Lanka? Why does it not have money?
Amal Edirimanne, a senior superintendent of police, said a curfew had been imposed in four police divisions of Colombo, the country's commercial capital.
Protesters, some clad in motorcycle helmets, dismantled a wall and hurled bricks at police, before setting a bus alight on a road leading to Gotabaya's residence, the Reuters witness said.
The island of 22 million people is experiencing rolling blackouts for up to 13 hours a day because the government does not have enough foreign exchange for fuel imports.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will initiate discussions with Sri Lankan authorities on a possible loan programme in coming days, a spokesman said on Thursday, as the government looks for a way out of the crisis.
