Social media was abuzz with the news of the fatal accident on the Colombo - Katunayake expressway, which accounted for the death of State Minister Sanath Nishantha in the early hours of January 25th. Soon after, an image claiming to be scenes of people celebrating the Minister’s death went viral. Let’s look at the image in detail.

Social Media Posts:

A photo was circulated on social media stating the current situation in Borella, suggesting that Sri Lankans were joyously preparing milk rice in celebration of Mr Sanath Nishantha's demise.

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The images related to this topic gained significant traction on social media, prompting us to conduct an investigation to verify their accuracy.

Fact-Check :

We performed a reverse image search on the photo shared on social media, which claimed that Sri Lankans were joyfully making milk rice to commemorate the passing of Mr Sanath Nishantha.

The photograph wasn't captured on the day of the state minister's demise (25th); rather, it was captured in May 2022, when former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa announced his resignation from the post.

Therefore, the scenes depict residents of the Panchikawatta area joyfully preparing milk rice on the roads in celebration of the former PM’s resignation in 2022.

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Furthermore, upon investigation, we verified whether there weren’t any celebrations resembling those shown in the earlier photos on the streets of the Borella area. Our inquiries with locals and correspondents confirmed that such a scenario has not been observed.

According to the police, the state minister’s vehicle had crashed against the roadside barrier before rear-ending a moving container truck around 2:00 a.m. Following the fatal collision, three critically injured people, including State Minister Nishantha, had been rushed to the Colombo North Teaching Hospital in Ragama.

However, along with the State Minister, his security guard, a police constable named Jayakody, also succumbed to their injuries. The driver of the vehicle is now under medical care at the Ragama Hospital.

According to reports, the group had been returning from a wedding ceremony held at a hotel in Bandarawatta, Chilaw, the night before the accident.

Born on 03 May 1975, Nishantha embarked on his political career in 1997. He was elected to the parliament from Puttalam District at the general elections held in 2015 and 2020.

සනත් නිශාන්තගේ අභාවයෙන් පසු බොරැල්ලේ ජනතාව සතුට සැමරූ අවස්ථාවක ඡායාරූපයක් නොවේ!

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Conclusion :

The photo that suggests residents of Borella were happily preparing milk rice to commemorate the death of State Minister Sanath Nishantha is misleading. The picture was captured in the Panchikawatte area following the announcement of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation in 2022.

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Title:Unveiling the Reality Behind the Alleged Celebration in Borella Following Sanath Nishantha Demise

Written By: Pavithra Sandamali

Result: False