AI-generated images falsely shared as evidence of Sri Lankan former spy chief's torture in police custody

"A third party has been watching via eight CCTV cameras how Sallay was tortured," reads a Sinhala-language Facebook post shared on June 14, 2026. 

The attached collage of six purported CCTV screenshots shows a man flanked by a group of people. A text overlay largely repeats the caption, and a name "Dinuka Ranjan" appears at the centre of the collage.

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Screenshot of the false post taken on June 15 with red Xs and AI symbol added by AFP

Sri Lanka's opposition leader Chanaka Madugoda said in parliament on June 12 that Sallay had told his family "there were eight CCTV cameras surrounding him when he was tortured" (archived here and here). 

His remarks came days after the Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told the legislature that the ex-intelligence chief directed the 2019 Easter Sunday attack -- the first official statement linking him directly to the bombings that killed 279 people (archived link).

Investigators arrested Sallay on February 25 for "conspiracy and aiding and abetting" the coordinated strikes on two Roman Catholic churches, an evangelical Protestant church and three luxury hotels on April 21, 2019 -- the most high-profile official netted in the long-running investigation (archived here and here).

The retired major general -- who was promoted to State Intelligence Service chief in 2019 after Gotabaya Rajapaksa became the island nation's president -- has denied his involvement. 

Comments from users suggest they believed the posts shared genuine CCTV screenshots.

"Where is Malimawa's -- compass -- law. Scoundrel dogs," one user wrote, referring to ruling coalition National People's Power, whose logo is a compass (archived link).

Another user, condemning the torture, commented, "Those who voted to bring murderers to power must be torn to pieces." 

The image has appeared in other social media posts, but they are not proof the ex-spy chief had been tortured and show telltale signs they were made with the help of AI tools.

Despite claims of eight CCTV cameras recording Sallay's torture, the image shows only six -- all pointing at the same object from the same angle with only the positions of people changing across frames -- while genuine CCTV setups usually record the subject from different angles.

The screens are labelled repeatedly and lack timestamps and dates -- features that are inconsistent with genuine surveillance camera setups.

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Screenshot of the false post, with errors highlighted by AFP

A keyword search with "Dinuka Ranjan" found a Threads account with the same name that has shared the graphic. Its owner regularly shares posts critical of Sri Lankan President Anura Dissanayake's government. 

AFP reached out to him for comment, but no response was forthcoming. 

An analysis of the image using Google's SynthID detector confirmed a "very high" degree of confidence that the picture is AI-generated (archived link). 

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Screenshot of SynthID Detector's analysis

A spokesman for the Sri Lanka police, F.U. Wootler, told AFP the image is "fake". 

"A special investigation has been initiated to find who circulated these false images," Wootler told AFP over the phone on June 22. 

"There is no truth to the social media claim and the image in circulation. Someone has created and shared it online," Nalinda Jayatissa, cabinet spokesman and the minister of health and mass media, told AFP over the phone on the same day (archived link). 

"Regarding the torture claims, as far as I am aware, he is treated the exact same way as any other individual brought under a detention order to the Criminal Investigation Department."

AFP has previously debunked false claims related to the Easter bombings.