Colombo, Oct 21 (PTI) The Sri Lankan government has decided to pay SLR 10 million as compensation to the family of a lawmaker who was lynched by an irate mob during the anti-government protests, a media report said on Friday.

Amarakeerthi Athukorala, 57, a lawmaker from former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa-led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) administration, was killed by a mob on May 9 in Nittambuwa in Western Sri Lanka.

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The limit for compensating a government official was SLR 5 million. But after the cabinet meeting last week, it was decided to compensate Athukorala's family with SLR 10 million, news portal Economy Next reported, quoting Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

Initially, police had claimed that Athukorala died by committing suicide.

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However, the autopsy report stated that the lawmaker's death was due to multiple injuries, fractures and internal bleeding, but he had no gunshot wounds.

Sri Lanka had witnessed massive street protests against the government earlier this year due to its mishandling of the economic crisis.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)