Protesters seized the residence and had been later seen frolicking within the presidential pool. (File)
Colombo:
Sri Lanka’s police power stated Friday it had sacked an officer who entertained protesters with an impromptu piano efficiency after they entered the island nation’s presidential compound final yr.
Constable R. M. D. Dayaratne was deployed to assist shield the colonial-era residence on the day it was taken over by protesters who compelled then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the nation.
As an alternative, he sat at a grand piano within the compound and performed a tune to the group streaming via its rooms.
“Dayaratne was on social media taking part in the piano whereas the constructing was being vandalised,” a senior officer, talking on situation of anonymity, instructed AFP.
“He was our Nero,” the officer added, referring to the traditional Roman emperor stated to have performed the fiddle whereas town burned in a weeklong fireplace.
Police authorities concluded that the constable had breached self-discipline after a prolonged investigation.
Earlier than the compound was entered in July 2022, protesters had been camped exterior Rajapaksa’s workplace for months demanding he step down over the island nation’s unprecedented financial disaster.
Protesters seized the residence and had been later seen frolicking within the presidential pool and leaping on Rajapaksa’s four-poster mattress.
Rajapaksa was accused of precipitating corruption and mismanagement that triggered the downturn, which led to extreme shortages of meals, gas and medicines.
He was compelled to hunt short-term exile in Singapore, from the place he issued his resignation, although he has since returned to Sri Lanka.
His successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has supplied an amnesty to these returning historic artefacts stolen from the constructing.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)