$50,000 in Fresh Banknotes Found by Protesters at Sri Lanka President's Home

The cash was taken over by the police and will be produced in court on Monday.

Sri Lankan protesters storm President Rajapaksa's house.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Sri Lanka Tweets)

Millions of rupees in cash, found by protesters at Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence, was handed over to a court on Monday, 11 July.

According to news agency AFP, after taking over the presidential residence on Saturday, protesters found 17.85 million Sri Lankan rupees (approximately $50,000) in fresh banknotes, which was turned over to the police.

"The cash was taken over by the police and will be produced in court today," a police spokesperson was quoted as saying by AFP.

A suitcase full of documents has also been found in the residence, the report said.

Thousands of demonstrators stormed Gotabaya Rajapaksa's Colombo home on 9 July and vowed to remain there until he actually resigned from the government.

"The demand is very clear, people are still asking for the resignation (of Rajapaksa), and full resignation, in a written confirmation," a protester told AFP. "So hopefully we will have this resignation from the government including the prime minister and president in the coming days," she added.

Protests Force President's Resignation

Rajapaksa had shifted to the mansion after his private home was stormed by protesters on 31 March. The Sri Lankan president fled from the official residence a day before the protest and there is no clarity on his whereabouts at the moment.

For more than three months, protesters camped out in front of the president's office, calling for his resignation due to the nation's catastrophic economic crisis.

Rajapaksa is charged with mismanaging the economy to the extent that the nation has run out of foreign exchange to pay for even the most basic imports.

Gotabaya will reportedly resign from his post on Wednesday. Consequently, the House Speaker, Mahinda Abeywardana, will become president for the next 30 days until Parliament elects a new president.

The island country is in discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a potential assistance after defaulting on its $51 billion in foreign debt in April.

In the worst economic crisis it is facing since its independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has reported a massive shortage of essential commodities.

(With inputs from AFP.)