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Sri Lankan security forces have been ordered to shoot law-breakers on sight in a bid to quell anti-government protests on the island, BBC reported.

Demonstrators are calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the island's worst economic crisis in history.

On Monday, his brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, stepped down as prime minister amid violent street clashes.

But the resignation failed to bring calm and violence continued overnight.

On Tuesday, the government ordered troops to open fire on anyone looting public property or causing "harm to life". 

It also deployed tens of thousands of army, navy and air force personnel to patrol the streets of the capital Colombo, according to BBC.

Despite their presence, the city's top police officer was assaulted on Tuesday afternoon by a mob accusing him of not doing enough to protect peaceful protesters.

At Colombo's Galle Face Green, on the sea front, crowds also continued to gather.

Police say eight people have died and the capital's main hospital says more than 200 people have been wounded since Monday.

Some were injured by pro-government mobs, others when police fired tear gas into crowds. Lawyers acting for the protesters told the BBC they were filing cases against supporters of the prime minister.

An island-wide curfew has been extended to Thursday morning as authorities seek to end the violence. 

Evidence of last night's rioting is everywhere across Colombo - buses thrown into the lake, others with windows smashed out and tyres still burning, BBC reported.

In the north-east, protesters gathered in front of Trincomalee Naval Base after unconfirmed reports that Mahinda Rajapaksa had gone there with family members after escaping from his Colombo residence.

More than 50 houses of politicians were burned overnight, reports say. Crowds remain outside the office of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brother of Mahinda, calling on him to quit, according to BBC.

The silence period is to commence from Tuesday midnight for the local election scheduled to take place on coming May 13.

According to the Election Commission of Nepal, the silence period will begin 48 hours before the polling day and remain till the voting centers are closed. The Election Commission has informed that voting arrangement has been made from 7.00 am to 5.00 pm on the polling day.

As per the election code of conduct enforced by the EC, the publicity materials of any political parties or candidates put up around 300-meter perimeter of polling centers should be removed before the commencement of silence period. The office-bearers and candidates of the political parties and sister-wings of the parties as well as the concerned individuals should abide by the election code of conduct during the silence period.

EC Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Poudel informed that there would be no election publicity, debate, interaction, assembly, workshop/seminar during the silence period. Likewise, candidates and political parties are prohibited to solicit votes from voters on any of the medium during the period.

The code of conduct also prohibited the concerned people and parties to post any message, information and publicity materials on social media, online, print and other medium in support of any political parties and candidates. All publicity related activities will remain closed during silence period and the EC has mobilized a 18-member team under the leadership of a Joint Secretary.

Likewise, there is a mechanism under Chief Officer in the district for monitoring while a mechanism is placed under Returning Officer leadership at Palika level. The EC can penalize up to Rs 100,000 to those violating election code of conduct during silence period. Also, the EC has authority to terminate the candidacy of the candidate in case of code violation, he shared.

Sri Lanka has deployed thousands of troops and police to enforce a curfew after five people were killed in the worst violence in weeks of protests over an unprecedented economic crisis, The Guardian reported.

Nearly 200 people were wounded on Monday as prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned, but that did little to calm public anger.

Rajapaksa had to be rescued in a pre-dawn operation by the military on Tuesday after thousands of anti-government protesters stormed his official residence in Colombo overnight, with police firing teargas and warning shots to keep back the crowd.

Protesters who forced their way into the capital’s “Temple Trees” residence then attempted to storm the main two-storey building where Rajapaksa was holed up with his immediate family.

“After a pre-dawn operation, the former PM and his family were evacuated to safety by the army,” a top security official told AFP. “At least 10 petrol bombs were thrown into the compound.”

Rajapaksa’s evacuation to an undisclosed location followed a day of violent protests in which five people, including a lawmaker, were killed and nearly 200 wounded, The Guardian reported.

The security official said police kept up a barrage of teargas and fired warning shots in the air to hold back mobs at all three entrances to the colonial-era building, a key symbol of state power.

Dozens of homes of top Rajapaksa loyalists were torched elsewhere in the curfew-bound country, which has been under a state of emergency since Friday.

The emergency order from president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the outgoing premier’s younger brother, gave sweeping powers to the military as protests demanding the duo’s resignation escalated over the country’s worst-ever economic crisis.

Protesters and Sri Lankan religious leaders blamed the former prime minister for instigating the family’s supporters to attack unarmed protesters on Monday, sparking retaliatory attacks.

Rajapaksa’s resignation follows months of protests over the country’s deepening economic crisis, as once-peaceful protests turned violent. Turmoil began to engulf the country on Monday after violence at a major protest site in Colombo, where pro-government supporters attacked demonstrators and police responded with teargas and water cannon, according to The Guardian.

In one incident just outside Colombo, a politician from the ruling party opened fire on anti-government protesters blocking his car, killing a 27-year-old, and then later took his own life. According to police, another ruling party politician opened fire on protesters in the southern town of Weeraketiya, killing two and wounding five.

Mahinda Rajapaksa had been asked to resign by his brother at a special meeting on Friday, in an attempt to appease demonstrators who have been taking to the streets in their thousands since March.

Protesters have been calling for both members of Sri Lanka’s powerful Rajapaksa political dynasty to be removed from office for mishandling the economy and plunging the country into the worst financial crisis since independence.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was president himself for a decade between 2005 and 2015, had reportedly been resistant to stepping down, but on Monday submitted his letter of resignation to the president.

“Multiple stakeholders have indicated the best solution to the present crisis is the formation of an interim all-party government. Therefore, I have tendered my resignation so the next steps can be taken in accordance with the constitution,” he wrote, The Guardian reported.

A deputy mayoral candidate of Maharajgunj Municipality, Kapilvastu died on Monday.

Shuvawati Kurmi, a candidate from the Nepali Congress, died of cardiac arrest last night, a family source said.

She was also the outgoing deputy mayor of Maharajgunj Municipality.

With the death of Kurmi, Nepali Congress can field another candidate for the post of deputy mayor, Chief Election Officer Tejandra Sapkota said.

Nepali Congress Lumbini Province General Secretary Surendra Raj Acharya said that the party is preparing to field Kurmi's daughter-in-law Rita Kumari Kurmi (28) for the post.