Police have rejected a widely shared social media claim that a supporter of the foot march demanding Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera’s release was attacked with a helmet by a group of people, saying the injured man had no connection to the march at all, the Daily Mirror reported at 10.07 a.m. on Thursday.
The video features Ven. Thiththagalle Anandasiri Thera and asserts that a man who had been assisting the march from Kandy to Colombo was set upon by a mob.
What police say happened
According to investigators, the incident occurred on 14 October within the Veragula police division, and the injured man seen in the video is being treated at Wathupitiwala Base Hospital.
Veragula Police recorded a statement from him. On that account, the dispute arose out of traffic congestion near the Vuriyawatta Kovil/Devalaya: a heated argument broke out between him and another man over the traffic, and the other man struck him with a helmet. A member of the clergy arrived afterwards and questioned those involved on video.
Police say the man was travelling in a lorry on personal business and was not connected to the march in any way; the altercation was with a motorcyclist in heavy traffic. The motorcyclist is himself admitted to Gampaha Hospital for treatment — a detail that cuts against the “mob” characterisation, since both parties to the row were injured.
Initial investigations, police say, found that Ven. Thiththagalle Anandasiri Thera used the incident to record and upload footage of the man’s injuries while falsely claiming a marcher had been deliberately attacked by a crowd.
What happens next
Veragula Police are to report the facts about the misleading video to court, and Sri Lanka Police repeated that legal action is being taken over the publication and spread of false, unverified information that creates public unrest.
That referral is the substantive step here. Yesterday this desk reported a general police warning of prosecution under the Computer Crimes Act and the Penal Code over false social media posts, and noted at the time that neither filing on it named a single incident, rumour or episode that had prompted the warning. This is that missing case, arriving a day later: a named individual, a located incident, a hospital, and a court referral. The Daily Mirror does not say which statute the Veragula report will be brought under, so whether the Computer Crimes Act is the vehicle is not established.
The timing
The march reached its final stage this week, and the claim circulated on the eve of its scheduled arrival in Colombo. The walk began at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy on 10 October as a six-day “Justice for the Robe” protest routed through Kegalle, Warakapola and Nittambuwa, with Colombo set for 15 October — today.
A claim that marchers were being violently attacked, surfacing the day before that arrival, is consequential whichever way it resolves, and police have treated it as such.
Not reported
The Daily Mirror does not name the injured man or the motorcyclist, does not say whether either has been arrested or charged over the assault itself, and does not report the condition of either. It does not say whether Ven. Thiththagalle Anandasiri Thera has been questioned, named as a suspect, or asked to remove the video, nor whether the video remains online.
No response from the Thera or from the march organisers is reported, and the filing carries no comment from anyone connected to the “Justice for the Robe” campaign. Police do not say how widely the video circulated or on which platforms.
This report rests on a single verified newsroom. Searches of Ada Derana, NewsFirst, Hiru News, Colombo Gazette and The Island returned no other verified outlet’s account of the police statement at the time of writing. Separately, Ada Derana’s own headlines indicate the march was due to conclude in Colombo today, but that domain has been unreachable from this desk for twenty-six consecutive days and the report could not be read or cited.
Sources: Daily Mirror.
