Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees to Maldives with his family: Report

• Image Credit: Internet

• Jul 13, 2022 | Dhupali Das

Rajapaksa's younger brother Basil Rajapaksa who resigned as finance minister in April missed his Emirates aircraft to Dubai...

Digital Desk: The president of Sri Lanka, who is under intense pressure to resign due to the greatest economic crisis the island has ever experienced, left his country early on Wednesday and boarded a flight to the Maldives.

After fleeing from his official residence in Colombo just before scores of demonstrators overran it, Gotabaya Rajapaksa promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and pave the way for a "peaceful transition of power."

Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest as president, and it is thought that he planned to travel abroad before stepping down to avoid being arrested.

According to immigration sources, he, his wife, and a bodyguard were among the four passengers on board an Antonov-32 military plane that took off from the main international airport and was headed for the neighbouring Maldives.

An airport official in Male reported that upon their arrival in the Maldives, they were escorted by police as they were driven to an undisclosed location.

The 73-year-old leader, formerly nicknamed as "The Terminator," had been delayed from leaving the country for more than 24 hours due to a humiliating standoff with immigration officials at the airport.

He planned to fly to Dubai on a commercial airline, but Bandaranaike International personnel refused to provide VIP services and insisted that all passengers should go through public counters.

According to a security official, the presidential party was unwilling to use the authorized channels out of concern for the public's reaction. As a result, they missed four planes on Monday that would have allowed them to travel to the United Arab Emirates.

A security official reported that permission for a military flight to land in the nearest neighbour, India, was not immediately secured. As a result, the group on Tuesday briefly travelled to a naval base to escape by sea.

Rajapaksa's younger brother Basil Rajapaksa who resigned as finance minister in April, missed his Emirates aircraft to Dubai early Tuesday following a heated exchange with airport personnel.

Basil, who has both US citizenship and Sri Lankan nationality, attempted to use a paid concierge service for business travellers, but the airport and immigration employees informed him that the fast-track service had been discontinued.

An airport official said, "Several other passengers objected against Basil boarding their flight. It was a stressful situation, so he rushed out of the airport."