Several attempts by the Sri Lanka president and his close family to leave the country have failed, sources have confirmed with SBS Sinhala. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s attempt to secure a US visa was rejected, a US embassy representative confirmed. India refused to allow a Sri Lankan air force plane to land on Indian soil. Former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa's plan to leave Sri Lanka has also been unsuccessful

The Indian government has refused to let Sri Lanka’s Gotabaya Rajapaksa land at a civilian airport in the country using an air force jet reports SBS Sinhala, as the embattled president reportedly searches for a way to flee the island.

According the SBS, “the Indian government refused to allow a Sri Lankan air force AN32, carrying the president, to land at an Indian civilian airport”.

Read more from SBS here.

The news follows reports that the US embassy in Colombo denied Rajapaksa a visitor’s visa to enter the country.

“It was made very clear to him that there will be no visa for him,” a representative from the US embassy in Colombo reportedly told SBS Sinhala.