A photograph showing Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananda Wijepala bowing down and showing his respect to the Sri Lankan soil after successfully extraditing underworld member Kehelbaddara Padme from Indonesia, is going viral on social media.
Here’s one such instance of the viral claim on TikTok:
More instances of the claim on TikTok, and others on Facebook can be found here, here, and here.
Evidence
The Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs has released a statement saying that the image is false.
Read the statement here:
AI detector WasItAI has detected that the image is AI-generated.
Reverse image search took us to the Facebook page of Kavindu Pradeep Kasthuriarachchi, who first posted the image on his page. He has later clarified that the image was AI-generated and made in jest.
He also says, “From the moment I first uploaded the image to Facebook, I was open about it being an AI-generated image!” Due to the fact that a criminal investigation has been launched about the image, it has now been taken down from his Facebook account.
Context
During a joint operation by the Sri Lanka Police and the Indonesian Police, several members of organised crime gangs, who had been hiding overseas while continuing drug trafficking and criminal activities in Sri Lanka, were arrested and extradited from Indonesia over the week of August 23, 2025. These gang members who are suspected to have worked under the orders of Kehelbaddara Padme were brought to Sri Lanka on August 30, and a team of Indonesian Police officers who actively contributed to the operation visited Sri Lanka alongside them. To welcome the Indonesian officials on behalf of the government and to ensure secure apprehension of the suspects, Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananda Wijepala and Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasooriya visited the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake. After this event, a photograph of Wijepala appearing to worship the ground (possibly the floor of the airport) has been widely circulating on social media to purportedly highlight his ‘patriotism’ and duty to the nation.
Verdict
The photograph of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananda Wijepala worshipping the ground of the airport after successfully extraditing underworld member Kehelbaddara Padme and his team from Indonesia to Sri Lanka is false. The Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs has released a statement stating that the photograph is false and AI-generated, the original Facebook account that posted the image has confirmed that it is AI-generated, and AI image detectors have identified it as such.
FAQs
Q1. What does the photograph of Wijepala show?
It shows Wijepala kneeling and worshipping the ground (possibly the floor of the airport).
Q2. When is this photograph claimed to have been taken?
After the Sri Lankan underworld gang member Kehelbaddara Padme and his team landed in Sri Lanka after being extradited from Indonesia.
Q3. Who first posted the image?
A Facebook user named Kavindu Pradeep Kasthuriarachchi
Q4. Why did the image go viral?
Because of the current Government’s, Wijepala’s, and the Sri Lankan Police’s ongoing special operations dedicated to apprehending multiple underworld gang members who have left Sri Lanka.
Our Sources
‘CID Ordered to Probe AI Image attributed to Public Security Minister’, NewsWireLK, published on August 31, 2025
AI detector WasItAI
Post by Kavindu Pradeep Kasthuriarachchi on Facebook, August 31, 2025
