In the early hours of Saturday, Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned home after fleeing the nation in July due to its catastrophic economic position.
He had gotten aboard an air force plane with his wife, two bodyguards, and a destination of the Maldives before continuing on to Singapore, where he formally resigned, and Thailand.
It was believed that he planned to depart the nation before quitting because presidents in Sri Lanka are only shielded from arrest while in office, not after they leave.
Mr Rajapaksa returned to Colombo’s Bandaranaike international airport on Saturday from Bangkok.
The economic crisis has seen shortages of staples such as cooking oil, fuel, and medicine for months; while foreign debt amounts to more than £44bn, of which £24bn has to be repaid by 2027.