Protesters claim they find millions of rupees inside President Rajapaksa’s house

The antigovernment protesters in Sri Lanka who stormed embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksas official residence have claimed to have recovered millions of rupees inside his mansion according to a media report on Sunday A video is being shared on social media showing the protesters counting the currency notes that were unearthedThe recovered money was said to be handed over to the security units the Daily Mirror newspaper reportedAlso read PHOTOS Angry protestors in Sri Lanka storm inside presidents houseAuthorities have informed that they will take steps to announce the ground situation after probing the relevant facts the daily reported Hundreds of antigovernment protesters on Saturday stormed into Rajapaksarsquos residence in central Colombos highsecurity Fort area after breaking the barricades as they demanded his resignation over the island nations worst economic crisis in recent memory Another group of protesters entered the private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and set it on fireThe Presidents whereabouts is still not known His only communication outside since the protesters stormed into the city has been with the Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena who announced late Saturday night that the President would resign on Wednesday President Rajapaksa informed the Speaker about this decision to quit after Abeywardena wrote to him seeking his resignation following the allparty meeting of leaders held Saturday eveningThe Speaker would become the acting President in the absence of both the President and the Prime Minister Later an election among MPs must happen to elect a new President Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has also offered to resign In May President Gotabaya Rajapaksas elder brother and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had to quit in the face of massive antigovernment protestsThe Rajapaksa brothers Mahinda and Gotabaya were hailed by many in Sri Lanka as heroes for winning the civil war against the LTTE but they are now blamed for the countrys worst economic crisis The expected exit of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday and the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister in May is a dramatic fall from grace for a powerful family that has dominated Sri Lankan politics for more than a decadeSri Lanka a country of 22 million people is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil the worst in seven decades crippled by an acute shortage of foreign exchange that has left it struggling to pay for essential imports of fuel and other essentials in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026 Sri Lankas total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever