No political persons have fled to India - HC's utter bluff

The Indian High Commission in Colombo has refuted reports citing that "certain political persons and their families have fled to India."

"These are fake and blatantly false reports, devoid of any truth or substance. The High Commission strongly denies them," a statement by the High Commission states.

Earlier, former Minister Namal Rajapaksa had told the AFP that they will not flee the country.

“There are a lot of rumours that we are going to leave. We will not leave the country,” he said, describing the surge of national anger against his family as a “bad patch”.

He has also added that his father - Mahinda Rajapaksa would not step down as a lawmaker and wanted to play an active role in choosing his successor.

Meanwhile, earlier on Tuesday (10), a protest had broken out outside the Trincomalee Naval Base after reports claimed several Rajapaksa family members including the former PM have sought refuge in the base after the violent clashes erupted in the capital yesterday.

Protestors outside the Naval Base had demanded the former PM and his family be held accountable for the crisis and be arrested.

Mahinda Rajapaksa left Temple Trees on Tuesday morning.