Fake Statement Falsely Attributed to Minister Nalinda on the Hospital Bill of the Late Nandana Gunathilaka?

Soon after the death of the prominent politician Nandana Gunathilaka, misleading discussions motivated by political interests began to spread on social media circles. Here is a fact-check investigation we conducted in one such post.

Social Media Posts:

“The reason Nandana Gunathilaka was unable to pay his hospital bill is not that he has no money. It is because he has deposited his entire wealth, including all the embezzled public funds, in foreign accounts.”

According to posts circulating on social media, the above statement was allegedly made by Health and Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa.

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The post was viral on WhatsApp as well.

We took steps to investigate whether Health and Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa actually made such a statement.

Fact Check:

The passing of Nandana Gunathilaka

Mr. Nandana Gunathilaka passed away on January 18^th while being treated at the Ragama Hospital. Mr. Gunathilaka was 63 years old at the time of his death. He was initially being treated at the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital.

Various allegations had been made on social media regarding the settlement of Mr. Nandana Gunathilaka’s hospital bill at the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital. It is against such a backdrop that social media posts linking the aforementioned Minister Nalinda Jayatissa are being created.

No such report on Mainstream Media or News 1st

However, we checked with the mainstream media to see if the Minister had made a statement as shown in the above social media post. However, no mainstream media outlet had reported such.

Similarly, although the social media post was portrayed as a news story posted on the Sirasa News1st Facebook page, it had not been reported there either.

News1st’s manager stated that they did not publish such a story and that this was a fake post designed to resemble the News 1^st format.

Minister Nalinda Jayatissa has not made such a statement.

We contacted Minister Nalinda Jayatissa to confirm this further, and he stated that he had never made such a statement and that this was fake news. A post was also posted on Minister Nalinda’s official Facebook page stating that the posts being shared on social media were false, as seen here.

Son of Nandana Gunathilaka

We inquired about this from the son of MD Nandana Gunathilaka, who stated that his father does not have any accounts or deposits in any foreign country. He also stated that he does not have any such assets in Sri Lanka either.

Late Nandana’s son also stated that while his father was receiving treatment at the Jayewardenepura Hospital, a decision was made to transfer him to the Ragama Hospital due to lack of progress, but at that time, he was facing financial difficulties, and treatment was suspended for two days due to non-payment of the bill.

The son further stated that the United National Party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya, and Ranil Wickremesinghe helped settle the bill, and that his father died while receiving treatments at the Ragama Hospital, and that all parties have been providing great support for the funeral arrangements.

The funeral of the late Nandana Gunathilaka will be held on Wednesday (21) at 4.00 p.m. at the Wadduwa Public Stadium.

The political career of Mr. Nandana Gunathilaka

Mr. Nandana Gunathilaka was a prominent politician who was involved in politics, holding membership in the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, Sri Lanka Freedom Party, United People’s Freedom Alliance and the United National Party in different phases, and finally contested the 2024 general election for the Kalutara District under the Gas Cylinder symbol.

Nandana Gunathilaka, who entered politics from the left-wing camp, was the presidential candidate of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna in 1999 and had also contributed to state governance by holding the positions of Acting Minister of Postal and Telecommunications (2009-2010) and Minister of Tourism (2009) in the government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa through the National Freedom Front. He was also elected to the post of Mayor of the Panadura Municipal Council twice. More information on this can be found here and here.

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Conclusion:

Our investigation shows that the fake news being circulated on social media using the News1st format, claiming that Minister Nalinda Jayatissa made a statement stating that after the death of prominent politician Nandana Gunasena, he was unable to pay the hospital bill he received treatment for, not because he lacked funds, but because his money was deposited in foreign accounts, is a false news editorial, and that the Minister has not made such a statement.