Viral Story About Number Plate Highjacking Story in Sapugaskanda Area is False 

People use social media to discuss various types of robberies, scams, etc. However, some such social media posts are false and misleading. This is our investigation into some such posts.

Social Media Posts

Social media posts say vehicle number plate hijackings and related robberies are currently happening in Sri Lanka. They further say such an incident was reported in the Sapugaskanda area recently.

FB | Archived 

We decided to do a fact-check on this. 

Fact Check 

First, we checked the mainstream media to see if anything similar had happened in Sri Lanka recently. But we could not find any such reports.

Then we contacted the Police media unit, who said no such incident was reported in Sri Lanka as per the complaints. Sapugaskanda police were also contacted, and the OIC confirmed that nothing happened in the Sapugaskanda area.

The OIC of the Sapugaskanda police added that due to this viral misinformation, there have been many telephone calls to the Police asking whether there are any such trends of crimes happening in the Sapugaskanda area.He added that all those things mentioned in viral social media posts are totally false and not true. So, it`s clear that there is no need for unnecessary fear related to these posts .

Such misleading claims are spreading in foreign countries, and a fact check about this done by Snopes also  .

The license plate carjack warning originated  in South Africa. Carjacking is called “hi-jacking” in South Africa, where that specific crime is far more prevalent and hit a peak of nearly 15,000 between 2008 and 2009. The United States Department of State listed carjacking as continued risk to travelers visiting South Africa as of 2016 amid general travel information on their web site. South Africa’s population numbered roughly 53 million, where the United States had approximately 319 million residents and an average of 38,000 carjackings per year via slightly older  statistics.

In short, someone can more  likely to face the  encounter carjackers in South Africa than the United States, and the specter of the crime looms larger there. Rampant violent crime can be demoralizing and frightening, which is why legends about clever criminals and how to outwit them endure in any culture.More details about this can be read here  More in those countries number plate hijackings are not happening like mention in social media posts.

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Conclusion:

As per our investigation, the vehicle hijacking story related to the Sapugaskanda police area in Sri Lanka is false.The Police OIC and police media unit confirmed that no such things happened, and there are also no credible mainstream media reports about it.