Bogus report spreads false claims about Sri Lankan journalist's death

"Darshana Handungoda was killed by Rajapaksas," reads the headline of the purported newspaper clipping shared on Facebook on January 12, 2026.

The image mimics the layout of local daily Mawbima, and attributes the remarks to Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Sunil Watagala (archived link).

Watagala has accused the Rajapaksa family of corruption and other crimes, igniting a war of words with the powerful clan, whose members include former presidents Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa (archived here, here, here and here).

"Darshana was a good friend. He had a lot of secrets with him," the supposed report further reads.

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Screenshot of the false post captured on January 14, 2026, with a red X added by AFP

The fabricated news clipping appeared in other Facebook posts, and drew comments from users who believed it to be genuine.

"If they killed him, this is your government. Put them in jail," one user commented. Another said: "So enforce the law without whining and crying."

However, various local media reported Handungoda, an outspoken critic of the Rajapaksa family, died of an illness on January 10 (archived here).

In a video earlier uploaded to his YouTube channel on August 4, 2025, he revealed he was facing a serious health condition and would need to undergo surgery (archived link).

Sunil Watagala's spokesperson Priyantha Maddumage told AFP over phone on January 16 that the deputy minister "has already lodged a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department of Sri Lanka police". 

AFP also contacted Mawbima's news editor Bingun Menaka Gamage, who called the circulating image "fabricated".

"We interviewed Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala but this is a fake social media post that is falsely presented as a news report published in the Sunday Mawbima," Gamage told AFP in an email on January 15.

The newspaper earlier published a clarification in its print edition on January 13 (archived link).

AFP checked Mawbima's January 11 edition, the date of publication indicated in the image, but found no such interview published in its print or online editions.

A keyword search on Facebook found Watagala's interview with Mawbima shared on the politician's social media account on November 23, 2025 (archived link).

The post, captioned "2025.11.23 Sunday Mawbima Newspaper", shares a report titled "How many shootings have we stopped?" 

Nowhere in the report does he make any reference to Darshana Handungoda.

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Screenshot comparison of the fabricated report (L) and the genuine article

AFP has previously debunked misinformation stemming from fabricated newspaper headlines.