COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew out of the country in the wee hours of Wednesday morning in a military plane heading to the neighbouring Maldives, local officials said, following widespread protests against him.

The 73-year-old leader, his wife and a bodyguard were among four passengers on board an Antonov-32 aircraft which took off from the main international airport, immigration officials said.

Earlier, he had headed to a naval base on Tuesday with a view to fleeing his island by ship following a humiliating standoff at the airport, official sources said.

Immigration officials also said they prevented the president’s brother and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa from flying out of the country, as anger mounted against the powerful family for a debilitating economic crisis.

Colombo court takes custody of $50,000 in cash left behind at presidential palace

Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised to resign to clear the way for a “peaceful transition of power” following widespread protests against him over the country’s worst economic crisis.

The 73-year-old leader fled his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters overran it on Saturday.

As president, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest, but immigration staff at Bandaranaike International withdrew from VIP services on Monday and insisted that all passengers must go through public counters.

The presidential party was reluctant to go through regular channels fearing public reactions, a security official said, and as a result, missed four flights that could have taken them to the United Arab Emirates.

Attempts to arrange a military flight to a neighbouring country also failed as clearance to land was not immediately available, the official added.

The president and his wife spent the night at a military airbase next to the airport.

A top defence source said the president’s closest military aides were discussing the possibility of taking him and his entourage overseas aboard a naval patrol craft.

“The best option now is to take the sea exit,” the defence official said. “He could go to the Maldives or India and get a flight to Dubai.”

The group left the airbase on Tuesday afternoon in two Bell 412 helicopters, an airport source said, bound for the northeastern port of Trincomalee, site of the naval base where Rajapaksa initially took refuge after fleeing his palace on Saturday.

Rajapaksa’s youngest brother Basil, who resigned in April as finance minister, missed his own Emirates flight to Dubai early Tuesday after a tense standoff with airport staff. Basil Rajapaksa — who holds US citizenship in addition to Sri Lankan nationality — tried to use a paid concierge service for business travellers, but airport and immigration staff said they had withdrawn from the fast track service.

“There were some other passengers who protested against Basil boarding their flight,” an airport official said. “It was a tense situation, so he hurriedly left the airport.”

Basil had to obtain a new US passport after leaving his behind at the presidential palace when the Rajapaksas beat a hasty retreat to avoid mobs on Saturday, a diplomatic source said. Official sources said a suitcase full of documents had also been left behind at the stately mansion along with 17.85 million rupees (about $50,000) in cash, now in the custody of a Colombo court.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2022