'There is fear that the president and prime minister are dragging their feet and won't resign.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Rajapaksa and said he looks forward to further deepen relations between the two nations.
Though dubbed as the "war hero", the role of Rajapaksa in ending the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009 is quite divisive as he stands accused of violating human rights, a charge he vehemently denies.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa became the only member of the family to retain a cabinet position in his younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa's new cabinet of 17 ministers appointed on Monday, as the island nation was facing the worst economic crisis.
Wickremesinghe, 76, was arrested at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters, where he was summoned to record a statement in connection with an investigation into the alleged misuse of government funds, police said.
A delegation from former president Maithripala Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party met him in the morning to press for their demand on the formation of the interim government.
The Tigers refused to forgive Douglas Devananda and tried to assassinate him repeatedly. He later said: "(LTTE chief Velupillai) Prabhakaran cannot kill me." Destiny proved him right.
The 74-year-old leader, who describe himself as "a rebel with a cause", earlier served as the country's president from 2005-2015, becoming South Asia's longest-serving leader. He was also prime minister for a brief period in 2018.
A video is being shared on social media showing the protesters counting the currency notes that were unearthed. The recovered money was said to be handed over to the security units, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.
Swamy, a close friend of the Rajapaksa family, also met with Gotabaya's brother Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday evening and attended the Navratri pooja at his residence.
Only 68 MPs voted in favour of the motion, it said, giving the 72-year-old President a comfortable victory.
"The High Commission categorically denies baseless and speculative media reports that India facilitated the recent reported travel of @gotabayar @Realbrajapaksa out of Sri Lanka," the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka tweeted.
Thousands of demonstrators have hit the streets since April 9, as the government ran out of money for vital imports; prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed and there are acute shortages in fuel, medicines and electricity supply.
Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would resign on Wednesday, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced late on Saturday night, hours after thousands of protesters stormed the former's official residence, blaming his government for an unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its knees.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is under pressure to resign, was dealt a further blow on Wednesday when three more parliamentarians withdrew their support to the government.
After Gotabaya Rajapaksa e-mailed his promised letter of resignation as Sri Lanka's president shortly after arriving in Singapore, Sri Lankans celebrated on the streets of Colombo late on Thursday, July 14, 2022, night.
Sri Lankan police on Monday came under pressure to arrest the Rajapaksa family loyalists involved in attacks on peaceful protesters last week, even as it arrested over 200 people on various charges following the violence that left nine people dead.
Sri Lanka's ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa left Singapore for Thailand after his short-term visit pass expired on Thursday, according to a media report.
The Sri Lankan government has appointed an advisory committee comprising eminent economic and fiscal experts to provide guidance on addressing the current debt crisis and engaging with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other lenders as the country struggles to combat the unprecedented shortage of foreign reserves.
After nearly two days of political deadlock, the stakeholders are engaged in prolonged talks to try and appoint a successor to Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The SJB has begun to collect signatures from MPs for the no-confidence motion, according to media reports.
In recent months people have been blocking roads across the country in a desperate bid to force the government to address the issue of acute gas shortages.
"President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country, I made a mistake in the (BBC) interview," Speaker Abeywardena told ANI in a telephone call.
This is the first appointment made by President Wickremesinghe on his first day in office.
A Saudi airlines flight -- SV 788 -- carrying Rajapaksa landed at the Singapore Changi International Airport shortly after 7 pm (local time).
Rajapaksa fled the country and resigned last month in the face of a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the island nation's economy.
Despite mounting pressure, Gotabaya, and Prime Minister Mahinda have refused to quit office.
In what appears to be more trouble for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's government, the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party on Friday announced that it will move a no-confidence motion against the government if it fails to take steps to address the concerns of the public facing hardships due to the worst economic crisis in the island's history.
'This escalation was definitely not part of Gen Z's plan. It seems now that these external forces were keenly observing the initial developments from the sidelines and jumped into the fray, taking advantage of the situation, finding that the time was suitable for such acts'
Before he fled his home, fled his country and resigned as president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had ordered officials to ensure the smooth distribution of cooking gas after the fuel-starved country received 3,700 metric tonnes of LP gas, his office told PTI on Sunday, July 10.
A spokesman of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) said a video released by Ajith Dharmapala, a former police officer, claimed that President Rajapaksa was staying at the house belonging to Pathirana.
There have been growing calls for President Rajapaksa's resignation over the past few weeks over his government's mishandling of Sri Lanka's worsening economic crisis.
Mahinda Rajapaksa completed 50 years of parliamentary politics in July this year. He was elected as a Member of Parliament at the young age of 24 in 1970. He has since been elected president twice and has been appointed prime minister thrice.
Sri Lankan police on Saturday fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse anti-government protestors here as the ongoing agitation demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the worst economic crisis intensified as it entered its 50th day.
In a tweet, before leaving for New Delhi, Rajapaksa said he was looking forward to strengthening bilateral relations with India.
Rajapaksa said he took the best steps like trying to form an all-party government to counter the economic meltdown.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, ousted as the president of Sri Lanka in a popular public uprising in 2022, on Thursday hinted that India was keen on his continuation despite the growing public discontent against him at the behest of certain Western powers.
With Buddhist monks joining the protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa -- who have long counted on the support of the Buddhist clergy -- the daily demonstrations against Rajapaksa rule have taken a new turn.
Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, under immense pressure from the public and the Opposition to quit over the island nation's worst economic crisis, said on Thursday that the abolition of the executive presidency, a move that will curb his powers, will be considered by Parliament.
Thirteen people accompanied Rajapaksa to the Maldives. They arrived in an AN32 aircraft, according to TV news channels.
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