Sri Lankan protesters find ‘millions of rupees’ inside president’s house

Colombo: Protesters who stormed embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's house on Saturday claimed to have recovered a large sum of money from inside his mansion amid economic turmoil. 

According to Sri Lanka's daily newspaper, Daily Mirror, it was reported that the recovered money was handed over to the security units.

Several videos doing rounds on social media platforms show protesters counting the currency notes that they claimed were unearthed from the President’s official residence.   

The Sri Lanka-based daily reported that authorities have informed that they will take steps to announce the ground situation after probing the relevant facts. 

#BREAKING | Sri Lankan protesters find millions of rupees from Gotabaya Rajapaksa's house amid economic turmoil

Watch - https://t.co/PHV5gEoDvF pic.twitter.com/RZ2YwO6adw

— Republic (@republic) July 10, 2022

"It's time that we got all our stolen money back to this country. The ACs were running in the Presidential palace while people didn't have electricity in their homes," a local said. 

In the television footage, it showed hundreds of people inside the well-fortified house and on the grounds outside, some taking a dip in the garden pool and others in a jubilant mood. 

Some footage showed the protestors relishing music at the Presidential Palace. 

The President's whereabouts are still not known and his only communication outside since the protesters stormed into the city has been with Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, who announced late Saturday night that the President would step down. 

The country is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, crippled by an acute shortage of foreign exchange that has left it struggling to pay for essential imports of fuel, and other essentials.