Unable To Get A Private Jet, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Flies To Singapore On A Scheduled Flight From Maldives To Singapore

President Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa. (Wikimedia Commons/Ministry of Defence)

JAKARTA - Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is reported to have left the Maldives on a flight to Singapore, a high-level security source in Colombo told CNN, but did not board a private jet.

He is expected to arrive at Singapore's Changi Airport on Thursday evening, security sources said. Previously, Rajapaksa had been waiting to get a 'private jet' from close family members in Colombo, but that 'has not materialized yet,' the source added.

Rajapaksa left the Maldivian capital, Malé, on a "Saudi flight," the source said, citing CNN July 14. CNN believes the source was referring to scheduled flight Saudia 788, which left Malé at 11:30 am local time Thursday. Saudia is the flag bearer of Saudi Arabia.

There has been no response regarding this from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and Saudia when contacted by CNN.

It is understood Rajapaksa was in the Maldives for a day after fleeing Sri Lanka in the early hours of Wednesday, the same day he said he would resign.

But on Thursday, no official resignation letter was received by Sri Lanka's parliamentary speaker, raising questions about the intentions of a seemingly exiled leader appointing the prime minister as acting president, during his absence from his island nation.

Shortly after Rajapaksa left the country, protesters stormed the office of Acting President Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to demand his removal. PM Wickremesinghe responded by calling for a nationwide curfew overnight.

Many protesters have vowed to continue demonstrating until both of them step down. Meanwhile, PM Wickremesinghe has ordered the military to take the necessary measures to restore the country's conditions.

A top military official told CNN PM Wickremesinghe had appointed a committee of senior armed forces commanders to "restorate law and order" across the country.

By Thursday morning, as questions swirled about Sri Lanka's future, calm had descended on the streets of the commercial capital Colombo, according to senior police inspector Nihal Thalduwa.

But everywhere there are signs that the country remains on the brink.

Amid crippling fuel shortages, abandoned vehicles line the streets near gas stations. People can no longer drive to work, so they cycle instead. Some choose to sleep in their cars.

Separately, Sri Lanka Police said one of its officers was seriously injured during the protests and was receiving treatment in hospital. An army sergeant was also injured, he added.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday said he followed events in Sri Lanka "very closely" and called for a "peaceful and democratic transition."

"It is important that the root causes of the conflict and protester grievances are addressed. I urge all party leaders to embrace a spirit of compromise for a peaceful and democratic transition," he wrote on Twitter.