A tense situation has developed in Hambantota where a group of Joint Opposition protestors are agitating against the government.

Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protestors who have converged near the Indian Consulate in Hambantota.

The Hambantota Magistrate yesterday issued an order banning the JO from holding a protest in Hambantota today, but the protestors had gone ahead with their protest.

The JO is protesting what they term ‘sinister efforts’ to sell national assets- the Hambantota Port and the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport - to China and India.