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Fake posts purporting to be statements made by prominent figures and politicians often get shared as real information on social media. Below is a fact-check we conducted on several fake social media posts purporting 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 was created in 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 now been released, and the potential loss from the consumption of that coal has been estimated at Rs. 2237.7 million. More information on this 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, allowing for an impartial and independent investigation to be conducted by the Special Presidential Commission to examine the process related to coal importation. 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 this is available here and here.
It was against this backdrop that a note was circulated stating that Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala had stated that Kumara Jayakody would continue to monitor and support the activities of the Ministry of Energy, even after resigning from his ministerial position.
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 this post was posted on News 1st’s official social media. However, News 1st had not posted such a post on its official social media.
If Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala had made such a statement, it should have been reported by another mainstream media outlet. Accordingly, in our investigation into the matter, we found that no mainstream media outlet had reported on such a statement.
A fake post created in the News 1st format
Commenting on this matter, the Newst 1st Digital Division stated that the relevant post was not created or reported by Newst 1st.
Regarding this post, Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala has posted a post on his official Facebook page stating that the relevant post is a fake post.
Media Secretary – Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala
To further confirm this, 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 post was a fake.
Media Secretary – Deputy Minister of Energy Arkam Ilyas
We inquired 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.
We took steps to verify the truthfulness of this.
Fact Check:
All arrangements are now in place to hold the ‘Walk for Peace Program in Sri Lanka’, an international peace march for world peace, with the participation of monks who walked for 110 days from Texas, USA to Washington. 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 22nd to 28th. Aloka’, a street dog of Indian origin who walked 2,300 miles with monks from Texas, USA, to Washington, D.C., also arrived on the island on April 16 with a group of monks who had come from the United States to participate in the peace march being held in Sri Lanka. More information about it can be found here and here.
Meanwhile, social media posts were circulating that there were plans to remove street dogs from the Kandy area in order 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.
There has been no reporting of such a statement in the mainstream media.
If Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala had made such a statement in a context where there has been intense debate in society regarding the upcoming peace march, it should have been reported in the mainstream media. Accordingly, although we have checked the matter, we have found that such a statement has not been reported in the mainstream media.
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.
The photo used for the relevant social media post was taken by the Deputy Minister during a discussion held with the Kesbewa Regional Steering Committee on 20.01.2026 and was posted on the Deputy Minister’s official Facebook page as follows. Facebook
Media Secretary – Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala
To further confirm this, we inquired 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.
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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, or that he will take steps to obtain maximum assistance from the security forces to remove street dogs that may hinder the peace march that is 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
