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A Group of supporters from the Anuradhapura region recently visited former president Mahinda Rajapaksa at his Wijerama residence. Most of them brought different food items, and a discussion arose on social media as to whether these were discarded for security concerns. Let’s look at some of the viral posts.
Social Media Posts :
A group of supporters, including Theros, had come from Anuradhapura to Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Wijerama residence to check on his well-being. Below are some social media posts regarding it.
Claim 1:
A post was circulated with the tag of the ‘IRI’ Facebook page, with the caption, “The food that was brought to Mahinda Rajapaksa, including curd, was thrown away in the municipal garbage truck for security reasons: says the former president’s media unit.”
Here is the same post in English, questioning why they couldn’t have given the food to those in need instead of discarding it in this manner.
Claim 2:
Another post was published stating that a person who had visited former president Mahinda Rajapaksa made a statement, and that it was broadcast on Hiru TV News. It was shared with the caption, “They showed us all of Colombo. Sent us on a bus home. Gave oranges from Kurunegala, sweets from Kadawatha Sweet House. They also gave us Rs. 5000 each with food and drinks. We also visited the Lotus Tower. We met Mr. Mahinda. We pay our tribute to Mr. Tissa Kutti.”
Claim 3
Another post circulating on social media claims that former MP Tissa Kuttiarachchi has told the press, “There is no distrust among the people. We threw away the curd because of worms”. It was shared as if the news was broadcast through Derana News.
We investigated the accuracy of these posts through the following process.
Fact Check :
None of the mainstream media outlets had reported on any statement issued by the former president’s media unit claiming that food items were discarded for security reasons.
Verification of Claim 1
The viral posts mentioned that the statement was made by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s media unit. Therefore, we contacted Mahinda Rajapaksa’s current spokesperson, Attorney-at-Law Manoj Gamage.
He stated that this is an entirely false statement and that Mahinda Rajapaksa would never throw away food items that his supporters have lovingly brought to him. He also emphasised that since he is the current media spokesperson for Mahinda Rajapaksa, the fact that a statement he never made was attributed to him further confirms that the statement is false.
He further commented on this…..
Furthermore, our investigation revealed that this news wasn’t published on the IRI News Facebook page, as mentioned in the social media post. The admin of the IRI News Facebook page also confirmed to us that they did not publish such a post on their Facebook page, and that this was a fake post using their Facebook page’s format and logo.
Similarly, MP Namal Rajapaksa, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s eldest son, had published a post on ‘X’ stating that this post was false.
Verification of Claim 2:
We also checked whether a statement by a person who came to visit Mahinda Rajapaksa was broadcast on Hiru News, as mentioned in the social media post.
During the news reporting on this incident on the 9:55 pm news broadcast on August 18, no individual was seen to have expressed their views, as shown in the photo posted on social media.
During our investigation, we found that the statement of the person shown in the above photograph was included in the ‘Ada Derana’ news item regarding the group that had come from Anuradhapura to visit Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa.
It stated that the person is K. Wijeweera, the Organiser of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, Anuradhapura-West Electoral.
However, it was observed that he had not made a statement as shown in the above post.
We also contacted Mr. K. Wijeweera over the phone. He mentioned that he never made a statement as shown in the social media post, describing that it is customary for Rajarata people to buy or bring products harvested from their own homes when visiting someone. He also stated that the items were brought from the Rajarata area, and that they were not brought by anyone else.
Verification of Claim 3
This visit was primarily organised by former Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MP Tissa Kuttiarachchi. However, when we checked through Derana News to check whether he had made such a statement as in the social media post, we were unable to find any news item containing such a statement. It was also not reported by any major media outlet.
It was discovered that the photograph of Mr. Kuttiarachchi, which was published with the tag, ‘Ada Derana News’, was taken on July 30, 2024, when he was giving his views to the media regarding the SLPP presidential candidate.
Accordingly, this photo was not taken recently after the incident. It has been fabricated using the Ada Derana News format.
Similarly, when we inquired about this, Mr. Tissa Kuttiarachchi stated that the social media post is false and that he had not made such a statement.
Below is the statement made by Mr. Tissa Kuttuarachchi on this matter in a television program.
P.S.: We cannot independently verify the accuracy of the above three social media posts, whether the food items brought to Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa were discarded or not, and whether Mr. Tissa Kuttiarachchi supported these people. However, the first claim can be indicated as a false statement, as the parties mentioned in the post confirmed that they did not make such a statement, and as there are no other proper sources that were cited to verify the information cited in other viral posts either.
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Title:Fabricated Posts Go Viral, Linked to Well-Wishers Who Recently Visited Mahinda Rajapaksa!
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: Misleading
