As anti-government demonstrations spread across Sri Lanka amid the ongoing political instability and a worsening economic crisis, a man wearing a police uniform was spotted supporting the protesters in Kottawa town on Monday.
A video, shared by the Daily Mirror, shows the man in a khaki uniform and black jacket addressing the protesters. He can be seen and heard chanting "we are with you, even though we are in uniform."
The police, however, said that they were yet to certain the identity of the man who joined the protests. "An investigation is underway to find out if he was a police officer or a civilian dressed in the police uniform," officials said.
Severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials, along with record inflation and crippling power cuts, have inflicted widespread misery across the island nation, which is enduring its most painful downturn since independence from Britain in 1948.
There have been mass public agitations against the ruling Rajapaksa family for its mishandling of the economic situation triggered by the foreign exchange crisis and the balance of payment issues.
Sri Lankan police have warned protesters not to take the law in their own hands and said strict action will be taken against those involved in violence during the agitations.
On Sunday, all 26 ministers aside from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down.
Earlier, the government imposed a state of emergency on Friday to quell the growing public demonstrations after the protesters tried to storm the homes of government figures including the President's house in Colombo, with police using tear gas shells and water cannons to disperse the crowd.
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