Sri Lankan Police shoots protester dead, 10 wounded

The protests came after Sri Lanka's state oil entity raised its retail price from Monday (April 18) midnight.

Image credit: Reuters

New Delhi: The Sri Lankan Police on Tuesday (April 19) shot a protester dead and wounded 10 others, reported AFP quoting Sri Lankan officials.

The island country is going through massive economic crisis and the severe fuel shortage has sparked spontaneous protests across Sri Lanka Tens of thousands of angry motorists are burning tyres and blocking a major road leading into the capital, police and local officials say, 

The protests came after Sri Lanka's state oil entity has raised its retail price from Monday midnight, a day after the Indian Oil Company's local operation raised its prices, adding to the woes of the people who are impacted by the island nation's worst economic crisis.

The state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation's (CPC) new price of 92 octane petrol Rs 338 per litre is an increase of Rs 84 and now matches the per litre price of Lankan Indian oil company (LIOC), reported PTI.

According to PTI, this was the second price hike by CPC within a month whereas the LIOC's yesterday hike was the fifth in six months.

The CPC officials said the high global prices and the depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee against the dollar after the government decision on March 7 to have a free float was the main cause.