One killed at ex-minister's office as Sri Lanka crisis turns violent

One man died and two others were injured when shots were fired on Sunday in Sri Lanka, as a constitutional crisis over the shock sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe turned violent.

Bodyguards of Arjuna Ranatunga, petroleum minister in the cabinet of former Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, fired live rounds as a mob allied to the president threatened the cabinet member, police said.

Police said one of Ranatunga’s security guards opened fire. One person was killed and two wounded.

The guard had been arrested and an investigation launched, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said. Ranatunga was safe and the security guard’s motive was not immediately clear, he added.

Over 1,000 supporters and loyalists, including chanting Buddhist monks, massed outside the colonial-era residence in Colombo where a defiant Wickremesinghe has been holding crisis talks with allies

It was the first report of serious violence since Wickremesinghe's sacking.

Sri Lanka has been plunged into crisis since Friday, when President Maithripala Sirisena abruptly sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and swore in ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new prime minister to replace him.

Sirisena said the move was motivated by a plot to kill him, and by economic collapse. Wickremesinghe says it was illegal and he is still prime minister.

On Saturday, Sirisena ordered to suspend parliament until November 16, in a move widely seen as an attempt to stop Wickremesinghe from trying to prove he maintains a parliamentary majority.

Security has been tightened around key government institutions as trade unions linked to Rajapaksa's political party have blocked access to some Wickremesinghe-party ministers entering their respective ministries.

Most of Sri Lanka’s foreign allies including India, the European Union and the United States, have urged Sirisena to abide by the constitution. But China, long seen as a supporter of Rajapaksa, congratulated him on becoming prime minister, drawing accusations from Wickremesinghe’s supporters that Beijing was behind the attempt to change the government. Chinese officials deny interfering in Sri Lanka’s affairs.