Claim: Image of a man Vandalising the Hambantota Divisional Secretariat.
Fact: While there has indeed been an incident of vandalism at the Hambantota Divisional Secretariat, this viral image is AI-generated.
A two minute long video, allegedly showing an incident of vandalism at the Hambantota Divisional Secretariat in southern province, has gone viral on social media in the recent days. The video alleges that a man destroyed property and threatened the staff because they were allegedly uncooperative, due to which his work was pending completion. However, the exact reason for the incident remains unclear.
In this context, an image showing a person, dressed in a shirt and a green lungi, flinging a chair and vandalising an office, is being widely shared by social media users, claiming to be from the incident.
One such Facebook user posted this image with a caption in Sinhala that reads: “What if this photo were framed and hung in every AG office? Normally, when we visit a government office, we feel like doing the same, especially when we go to an AG office. What if 50% of the punishment given to this person were also applied to the people at the Hambantota AG office…? This man has been visiting the AG office for three days to get a copy of his father’s birth certificate… as per the order. Write down your opinion.”
Another user on Instagram posted the same image with a caption in Sinhala that reads: “Thank you for giving some public servants, who have forgotten they are paid with taxpayers’ money and are exploiting the public for their own gain, a much-needed wake-up call. The mental stress that caused this person to act out in this way should be deducted from the property damage he caused. This image should be displayed in every government institution as a reminder not to disappoint the public again.”
We found the same image widely shared on Facebook with different captions, and these posts can be seen here, here, here, here, and here.
Apart from that, we have noticed a couple of YouTube videos that also use this image as a thumbnail for their content related to this incident. The videos can be seen here, here and here.
Factcheck / Verification
To confirm the authenticity of this incident, we contacted the Hambantota Divisional Secretariat. A representative confirmed that the incident did indeed occur on March 4th, 2025.
Further to our analysis, we verified the authenticity of the image circulating on social media. We closely checked the image and compared it with the video of the vandalism covered in mainstream media reports and found that they were not a match. News reports on the incident carrying the video can be found here, here, and here.
Upon closer inspection, we identified several elements in the image that seemed off. The man’s hand and legs show unusually soft features and an unrealistic structure, and the fingers of his fist, holding the chair, appears to have melted together and attached to the chair. The staff members in the photo all appear to be men, and their faces appear blurred and distorted. The hand of the person seen lying on the ground in the left corner of the frame seems to end abruptly. Additionally, the nameplate appears embossed.
We checked this image using HIVE Moderation, an AI image detector, which confirmed that the image is AI generated.
Conclusion
An AI generated image was shared to show the incident of vandalism at the Hambantota Divisional Secretariat.
Result: Altered Media
Our Sources
Statement from a representative of the Hambantota Divisional Secretariat.
The news about the vandalism at the Hambantota Divisional Secretariat was published on the Ada Derana YouTube channel, dated March 6, 2025.
The news about the vandalism at the Hambantota Divisional Secretariat was published on the Newsfirst Sri Lanka YouTube channel, dated March 6, 2025.
The news about the vandalism at the Hambantota Divisional Secretariat was published on the Hiru News YouTube channel, dated March 6, 2025.
HIVE Moderation: AI Image Detector
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