Sri Lanka, March 2 -- The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has released over 5.2 million litres of fuel by 9.44 a.m. today in response to panic buying, its Chairman D.J. Rajakaruna said.

Addressing a special government media briefing, Rajakaruna stated that 2,325,349 litres of diesel and 2,904,000 litres of petrol were issued this morning alone.

He added that yesterday, the CPC had distributed 3,018,349 litres of diesel and 3,920,400 litres of petrol.

Rajakaruna said the sudden surge in demand had led to temporary shortages at several filling stations.

Furthermore, he noted that police had intervened to restore normalcy, alleging that racketeers were attempting to exploit the situation and cause inconvenience to regular consumers....