Old clip shared as Sri Lanka police chief's remarks on evading arrest

"Escaping is not a solution. A statement from Deshabandu," reads a Sinhala-language Facebook post on March 19 that features footage of Tennakoon making the same remarks.

It was shared on the same day he surrendered to authorities and was remanded in custody after more than a fortnight on the run (archived link).

Tennakoon stands accused of authorising an ill-fated drug bust in 2023, allegedly in violation of internal regulations, which triggered a gun battle between competing police units in the southern coastal resort town of Weligama.

One police officer was killed, and another was critically wounded in the incident. No drugs were found.

The island nation's ruling coalition said it would sack Tennakoon (archived link).

Image

Screenshot of the false post taken on March 20, 2025

Tennakoon's video also surfaced in similar posts on Facebook but the footage is old.

A closer inspection of the clip found it bears a hovering text overlay that reads, "Neth News YouTube".

Using this term and other relevant keywords, AFP traced the video to a longer interview uploaded December 21, 2023 on the YouTube channel of local broadcaster Neth News (archived link).

Tennakoon's remarks at the 14:20 mark of the report corresponds to the falsely shared footage.

He was responding to a question about why the police were disclosing details of their anti-drug operations before these were conducted. Tennakoon warned drug distributors could run away but they cannot escape the law.

Image

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (L) and the interview published in December 2023

Police spokesperson Buddhika Manatunga told AFP on March 26 that Thennakoon has not issued any public remarks as he awaits trial and the video "is not a recent statement".