In the early hours of 9 July, following multiple intelligence inputs indicating that anti-government demonstrations scheduled for later that day were likely to spiral out of control, Rajapaksa and his family were hastily evacuated from the President's House by armed military units. Initially escorted to the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army, Rajapaksa was later ushered to the Port of Colombo, boarding SLNS Gajabahu, an offshore patrol craft operated by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN). Although Rajapaksa's whereabouts remained confidential in the immediate hours following his evacuation, amateur video footage taken at the port later that day, showing three men loading suitcases onto Gajabahu, evidently implied Rajapaksa's intent to escape.
