(CNN) Former President Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew with a private jet from Singapore to Thailand on Thursday, according to a high -ranking police officer with direct knowledge of his movement.
The source said Jet Rajapaksa landed at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok and that living in Thailand would be treated in secret.
Thailand Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanee Sangrat said in a social media post Wednesday that Thailand had received a request from Rajapaksa to enter the country.
Sangrat said that as the holder of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic passport, Rajapaksa was able to enter Thailand without a visa for up to 90 days, emphasizing that the leader was overthrown and he was not looking for political asylum.
Rajapaksa initially fled from Sri Lanka for the Maldives in July in the midst of mass anti-government protests, before flying to Singapore where he submitted his resignation.
Anger has grown in Sri Lanka for months after the country’s foreign exchange reserves plummeted to record the lowest, with the dollar running out to pay important imports including food, medicines and fuel.
Out of the former leader who was in a hurry -last month was a historic moment for the country of 22 million, which had been ruled by Rajapaksa with an iron fist for the past two decades, before losing the confidence of their citizens.
Rajapaksa is not the first family member to become president. His brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected as a member of the upper in 2005 and reached a legendary legendary status in 2009 when he declared victory in the 26 -year -old civil war against the Tamil Eelam rebel liberation.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as Secretary of Defense at the time, and brothers were accused by groups of rights to commit war crimes -accusations denied by the family.
Recently, many Sri Lanka residents have accused Rajapaksas wrongly handling the country’s economy.
On the days after Rajapaksa’s resignation, MPs chose former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as president, but anger remained like many protesters who saw him as closely bound by the regime of the former leader.
Wickremesinghe has emerged to keep away from Rajapaksas, telling CNN last month that the previous government “covered the facts” about the crispy financial crisis.
