Claim: Video showing former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon, who recently turned himself in, speaking about evading the police after an arrest warrant had been issued against him in March 2025.
Fact: The video dates back to a December 2023 press conference when Tennakoon was the IGP, where he is warning drug dealers about the futility of hiding from the police as they will eventually be caught.
A six-second video claiming to show suspended Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon allegedly speaking about evading arrest has been going viral across social media platforms. Tennakoon, who is currently in remand custody in connection with a fatal shooting incident in December 2023, is heard saying in Sinhala in the viral clip: “Running away is not a solution. Even if you run away, you will have to come back to your hometown and the police will catch you then.”
We found the video on Facebook here and here.
The posts went viral against the backdrop of Tennakoon reportedly evading authorities for a fortnight after he was subject to an arrest warrant in connection with the shooting incident near a hotel in the Pelena area of Weligama, before eventually surrendering at a magistrate court. More information about the arrest can be found here.
Fact Check/Verification
The Newschecker team noticed the watermark “Neth News YouTube” on the video, and ran a search for relevant keywords “Deshabandu Tennakoon”, “evading arrest”, and “Sri Lanka Police” about whether they had posted any videos related to this statement by Tennakoon.
On Neth News’ YouTube channel, in a video dated December 21, 2023, at 14 minutes and 20 seconds into the video, Tennakoon speaks about the operations being conducted by the Sri Lanka Police regarding the mitigation of drug activities and says, “[For drug distributors] running away is not a solution. Even if you run away, you will have to come back to your hometown and the police will catch you then.”
In addition, Newschecker noted that the viral statement could not have been made by Tennakoon on March 19, as per the social media posts, as he was actively evading arrest at the time. Media reports of him evading arrest can be found here and here.
Moreover, he was suspended as IGP by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in July 2024, after which he could not wear his uniform and give a public statement in front of the media as a representative of the police. Information about his July 2024 suspension can be found here and here.
Conclusion
The viral video claiming to show Deshabandu Tennakoon talking about evading arrest is actually from a December 2023 press conference where the then IGP says that drug distributors should not run away from the police as they will eventually be caught.
Result: Missing Context
Our Sources
“දේශබන්දුගේ මේ දවස්වල වෛරල් වෙන වීඩියෝවේ සුවිශේෂී හෙළිදරව්ව | Neth News,” posted on the Neth News YouTube channel, December 21, 2023
“Ex-IGP Deshabandu evading arrest, police seek public assistance,” posted on Ada Derana News, March 6, 2025
“Deshabandu faces freeze of assets if he continues to evade court,” posted on Daily FT, March 10, 2025
“Sri Lanka appoints Priyantha Weerasuriya as acting Police chief,” posted on The Hindu, September 27, 2024
“SC Suspends Deshabandu Tennakoon’s Duties as IGP,” posted on CeylonToday, July 24, 2024
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