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It is normal for society to occasionally engage in discussions about certain personalities based on various statements and events. Social media is a platform that further fuels that social discourse.
Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi has also become a hot topic of discussion in recent days due to an alleged statement that he is preparing to provide free motorcycles to the Police Special Task Force. This is a fact-check we conducted.
Social Media Posts:
IRI News has published an article titled “50 free trail bikes for the Police Special Task Force from Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi” and included a link for more information. The link published with the article states that the Avant Garde Chairman revealed this in the Auto Vision program broadcast on Sirasa TV. irinewslk | Archived Link
It also states that the Commander-in-Chief announced that 50 modern 450cc motorcycles will be provided completely free of charge to the Special Task Force (STF), and that the maintenance of these motorcycles will be carried out free of charge for the next 15 years.
This post has been shared further on Facebook as follows.
We have taken this step to clarify the facts regarding the posts circulating on social media.
Explainer:
Since it was reported that the Avant Garde Chairman had stated that he would provide 50 free motorcycles to the Police Special Task Force on the Auto Vision program broadcast on Sirasa TV, we took steps to verify whether he had actually made such a statement on that program.
The Avant Garde Chairman participated in the 101st Auto Vision program broadcast on Sirasa TV on April 18th, and it can be clearly seen that the Chairman is ready to provide 50 motorcycles to the Special Task Force, as reported on social media and other websites.
Nissanka Senadhipathi states that he has heard that the Special Task Force needs 50 motorcycles and, accordingly, he is prepared to provide 50 motorcycles with a 450 cc engine capacity, similar to those used by the Russian Spetsnaz special forces, to the Special Task Force completely free of charge. He also states that his organization will carry out all maintenance work for 15 years free of charge.
“We will maintain this motorcycle for 15 years. I signed the agreement and opened it. They will decide whether to take it or not. They just give 430 million and there is a letter. I signed it and opened the letter and it’s over. They even acknowledged it and sent a letter.”
Nissanka Senadhipathi also presents a letter stating that he informed the relevant authorities about the incident during the program.
Sri Lanka Police Response
Posting on the official Facebook page, the Sri Lanka Police said that Avent Signature Builds has sent an email to the Special Task Force expressing its willingness to provide 50 motorcycles free of charge. However, since several investigations have been conducted into the company, the Sri Lanka Police will not enter into a contract with it.
Furthermore, when making such a donation, a request must be made through the Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, following a proper procurement process, and submitted to the Sri Lanka Police. The police also stated in the post that no such request has been made so far.
The police also emphasized that the news that motorcycles have been provided is false.
Meanwhile, to further clarify the facts, we asked Police Media Spokesperson Assistant Superintendent of Police Attorney-at-Law Fredrik Udaya Kumara Wutler about the proposal received from Avent Signature Builds. The Police Media Spokesperson stated that the proposal to provide motorcycles has been rejected by the Ministry of Public Security.
Simultaneously, attempts to contact Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi to inquire about the response to his proposal to provide 50 motorcycles to the Sri Lanka Special Task Force (STF) completely free of charge were unsuccessful. We hope to update this article if we can get a response from him in this regard.
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Title: Will Nissanka Senadhipathi offer 50 free motorcycles to STF?
Fact Check By: Sagarika Chathumali
Result: Insight
