A Sri Lankan court on Thursday banned former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his politician son Namal and 15 allies from leaving the country over acts of violence against anti-government demonstrators.
The magistrate in the capital Colombo also asked police to investigate Monday’s mob attacks on peaceful protesters, which led to retaliatory violence that claimed nine lives and caused widespread destruction.
Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Monday, as an outbreak of political violence killed five people including an lawmaker and wounded almost 200.
Lawmaker Amarakeerthi Athukorala from the ruling party shot two people -- killing a 27-year-old man -- and then took his own life after being surrounded by a mob of anti-government protesters outside Colombo, police said.
And another ruling-party politician who was not named opened fire on anti-government protesters in the southern town of Weeraketiya, killing two and wounding five, according to police.
Sri Lanka has suffered months of blackouts and dire shortages of food, fuel and medicines in its worst economic crisis since independence.
This sparked weeks of overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as well as his brother the prime minister.
