Thousands of people took to the streets across Sri Lanka on Wednesday, a day after police shot and killed a demonstrator, as widespread protests continue against the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.
Protesters used vehicles to block key roads in many parts of the country as they demonstrated against the shooting as well as rising fuel prices and the government’s failure to resolve deepening economic problems. The shooting was the first by Sri Lankan security forces during weeks of protests.
The shooting occurred Tuesday in Rambukkana, 90 kilometers (55 miles) northeast of the commercial capital Colombo. Fifteen police officers were also admitted to a hospital with minor injuries after clashes with protesters. Police said the demonstrators had blocked railway tracks and roads and ignored police warnings to disperse. Police also said protesters threw rocks at them.
Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said he expects the police to properly investigate clashes with anti-government protesters that led to the first death in weeks of civil unrest over an economic crisis.
"Deeply distressed following the tragedy in Rambukkana," Rajapaksa said on Twitter. "I have every confidence that a strict, impartial investigation will be carried out."
Rambukkana was calm with minimal security on the streets. A four-member police forensics team combed the area around the railway crossing where the clash took place. Police also cordoned off part of a petrol station where violence also flared, including a small dusty, blood-stained patch. Rocks, ammunition casings and spent tear gas canisters were strewn about.
The shooting broke out after protesters blocked a railway line and stopped a fuel tanker attempting to cross it, residents and a government minister said Wednesday.
Public security minister Prasanna Ranatunga told parliament the shooting happened after protesters tried to set fire to the tanker.
"Police acted according to the law," he said. "This shooting happened after police did everything they could to bring this situation under control. We will conduct multiple investigations."
Sri Lanka is on the brink of bankruptcy, with nearly $7 billion of its total $25 billion in foreign debt due for repayment this year. A severe shortage of foreign exchange means the country lacks money to buy imported goods.
U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung and U.N. Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy urged restraint from all sides and called on the authorities to ensure the people’s right to peaceful protest. Chung also called for an independent investigation into the shooting.
Sri Lankans have endured months of shortages of essentials such as food, cooking gas, fuel and medicine, lining up for hours to buy the very limited stocks available. Fuel prices have risen several times in recent months, resulting in sharp increases in transport costs and prices of other essentials. There was another round of increases earlier this week.
Thousands of protesters continued to occupy the entrance to the president’s office for a 12th day Wednesday, blaming him for the economic crisis.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the prime minister’s brother, concentrated power in the presidency after being elected in 2019.
The Rajapaksa brothers are likely to retain their grip on power even if the constitution is amended, since they hold both offices.
Both the president and prime minister have refused to step down, resulting in a political impasse. Opposition parties have rejected the president’s proposal of a unity government but have been unable to put together a majority in Parliament and form a new government.
In a Cabinet reshuffle Monday, the president appointed many new faces and left out four family members who had held Cabinet and non-Cabinet posts, in an apparent attempt to please the protesters without giving up his family’s grip on power.