Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel
Social media users often share fake posts that falsely claim to be statements made by prominent figures and politicians. Below is a fact-check that we conducted on several fake social media posts that falsely claimed to be statements made by Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala.
Claim 1: Social Media Posts:
A post circulating on social media indicated that Deputy Minister Watagala had stated that former Minister Kumara Jayakody would continue to monitor and support the activities of the Ministry of Energy, even after resigning from his ministerial position.
The relevant social media post used the News 1st format, and we took steps to verify its veracity.
Fact Check:
There has been a lot of talk recently about irregularities in the import of coal for the 2025/2026 period. The audit report on the import of substandard coal has been released, and the potential loss from the consumption of that coal has been estimated at Rs. 2237.7 million. More information on this topic can be found here.
A Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry was appointed to investigate whether irregularities and illegal acts had occurred in the importation of coal and the related electricity generation. Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody and Secretary Professor Udayanga Hemapala had submitted letters to the president on April 17th and resigned from their positions. Further information on the topic is available here and here.
Against this backdrop, a note circulated that Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala claimed Kumara Jayakody would continue to support the Ministry of Energy’s activities despite his resignation.
News 1st had not posted such a post on its official social media.
Since the relevant post was created in the News 1st format, we initially checked to see if it was posted on News 1st’s official social media. However, News 1st did not post such a statement on its official social media, and we found no reports on such a statement by any mainstream media outlet.
Commenting on this matter, the Newst 1st Digital Division stated that the relevant post was not created or reported by Newst 1st.
Media Secretary – Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala
Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala had published a post on his official Facebook page stating that the viral claims were fake.
For further clarification, we contacted the media secretary of the deputy minister of public security, Mr Sunil Watagala, who stated that the deputy minister had not made such a statement and that the relevant social media posts were fabricated.
Media Secretary – Deputy Minister of Energy Arkam Ilyas
We enquired from the media secretary of Deputy Minister of Energy Arkam Ilyas regarding whether former minister Kumara Jayakody will continue to monitor and support the activities of the Ministry of Energy despite resigning from his ministerial post. He stated that such interference will not occur.
Claim 2: Social Media Posts:
A social media post was circulating stating that Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala had stated that he would seek the maximum assistance of the security forces to promptly remove street dogs that could obstruct the peace march of foreign monks.
Below are some other instances of the same post.
Fact Check:
All arrangements are now in place to hold the ‘Walk for Peace Programme in Sri Lanka’, an international peace march for world peace, with the participation of monks who walked for 110 days from Texas to Washington in the USA. The monks, led by Venerable Pannakara Thero, who led the American peace march, arrived in Sri Lanka for this ‘Walk for Peace Program in Sri Lanka’ peace march, and the group led by the Maha Sangha is scheduled to engage in this peace march for seven days from April 22 to 28.
On April 16, ‘Aloka’, a street dog of Indian origin who walked 2,300 miles with monks, arrived on the island with a group of monks to participate in the peace march. You can find more information here and here.
Meanwhile, social media posts were circulating that there were plans to remove street dogs from the Kandy area to accommodate ‘Aloka’, the dog who was joining the peace walk.
However, the Animal Welfare Coalition Sri Lanka (AWC) had confirmed that no such process would take place. It was against this backdrop that a note was exchanged stating that the Deputy Minister of Public Security had stated that steps would be taken to obtain the assistance of security forces to remove street dogs that could obstruct the peace march.
The mainstream media has not reported such a statement.
If Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala made such a statement amid intense debate over the peace march, it should have been reported in mainstream media. Accordingly, although we have checked the matter, we have found that the mainstream media had not reported such a statement.
We also paid attention to the recent statements made by the Deputy Minister of Public Security, and we did not see any such statement made by the Deputy Minister regarding the upcoming peace march.
Media Secretary – Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala
To further confirm this, we enquired with the media secretary of the deputy minister of public security, Mr Sunil Watagala, who stated that the deputy minister has not made any such statement.
Join us to learn about our fact-finding efforts
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google News | TikTok
Conclusion:
Our investigation shows that Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala has not stated that Kumara Jayakody, who has resigned from the ministerial post, will continue to monitor the activities of the Ministry of Energy and provide support, nor has he indicated that he will take steps to obtain maximum assistance from the security forces to remove street dogs that may hinder the peace march scheduled to begin in the country. The minister’s media secretary also confirmed that the relevant notes were fabricated.
Title: Fabricated social media posts falsely attributed to Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala!
Fact Check By: Pavithra Hansani
Result: False
