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With the government promising a hard line on organized crime, every major weapons haul now makes headlines, and a familiar political surname makes it travel even faster. When police seized five firearms, thousands of live rounds and two hand grenades from a cinema in Kirindiwela, social media posts quickly claimed the man arrested was the brother of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Harshana Rajakaruna. We checked whether the suspect really was the MP’s brother. Here are the posts that carried the claim.
Social Media Posts:
One widely shared post read: “Officers of the Organized Crime Investigation Unit of the Colombo Crimes Division found five firearms, 3,843 live rounds and two devices suspected to be live hand grenades during a raid in the Kirindiwela police area. Police identified the suspect as Charith Kanishka Rajakaruna [address removed by us] [NIC number removed by us].
This suspect is also a brother of SJB MP Harshana Rajakaruna. He was arrested for possessing the firearms, live ammunition and suspected hand grenades, and further investigations are under way.”
(We blurred the suspect’s address and NIC number.)
Other accounts shared the same claim:
Facebook | Facebook | Facebook
Claim under investigation: Whether the man arrested with a cache of firearms and hand grenades in Kirindiwela on October 17, 2026, was the brother of SJB MP Harshana Rajakaruna.
Fact-Check:
Kirindiwela Raid Uncovered Five Firearms, 3,843 Live Rounds and Two Hand Grenades
Media reported that Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) officers raided a cinema on Hanwella Road, Kirindiwela, on the evening of October 17, 2026. They arrested a 38-year-old suspect along with five firearms, 3,843 live rounds of several types and two live hand grenades, as Daily Mirror reported. Police obtained a detention order to question the suspect (here), and some of the firearms were reportedly licensed for the protection of property (here). The police media release on the raid is shown below.
Early News Reports Did Not Call the Suspect the MP’s ‘Brother’
Among the first reports of the arrest, published on the morning of October 18, 2026, Newsfirst named the suspect and gave his age, but linked him to no politician. State media outlets Dinamina and ITN described him as the MP’s cousin (here). The A5 News post shown above was one of the first to call him the MP’s ‘brother’, and within hours that claim spread across many accounts.
President Spoke of a ‘Relative’ at the Badulla Rally
We checked how mainstream media covered the arrest and found that the President referred to it at a public rally in Badulla on October 18, 2026. Dinamina’s Facebook page posted a video of the speech under the caption: “What the President said at the Badulla rally about SJB Harshana’s cousin, arrested with a cache of firearms.” In the clip, the President said: “A country riddled with crime. Even today, someone was arrested. You know whose relative he is, too.” The President spoke of a ‘relative;’ the word ‘brother’ does not appear in the quote. Dinamina and ITN also referred to the suspect as a cousin. Facebook (Dinamina)
MP Harshana Rajakaruna Has No Brother
In a media release issued on October 18, 2026, MP Harshana Rajakaruna said he had noticed posts suggesting a link between him and the man the CCD arrested with firearms. He stated that he has no brother, as he is the only son in a family with three sisters. He also asked whether an offence committed by one person with a particular surname should be pinned on everyone who shares it.
He said that in 11 years as an MP he had never accepted the firearm issued to parliamentarians, and that his late father, Sarath Chandra Rajakaruna, never owned a firearm either. He added that he had instructed his lawyers to take legal action against the media outlets that published the reports and accused the ‘Malima government’ (the NPP-led government) of staging such incidents to cover up the state’s bankruptcy.
However, while the release clearly said he has no brother, it did not say whether the suspect was a relative. It referred to the arrest only as “that incident, which has no relevance to me.” Some websites headlined the statement as “no connection whatsoever” (here), but we found no such wording in the media release.
Rajakaruna Family Records Show Three Sisters and No Brother
To verify the MP’s statement independently, we looked into his family background. His father, former minister and former Gampaha District MP Sarath Chandra Rajakaruna, died on January 10, 2011, as Ada Derana reported. A Daily News report on his death, published on January 11, 2011, noted that he entered politics in 1977 as the UNP organizer for Dompe. It listed Harshana Rajakaruna as the only son of Sarath Chandra Rajakaruna and Mallika Rajakaruna. Sarath Chandra Rajakaruna, the sixth of seven siblings, had three daughters and one son, Harshana, who was then a Western Provincial Council member. Kumari Balasuriya, then Governor of the Southern Province, was his younger sister.
The report was published on the Daily News website on January 11, 2011. Daily News
This report independently confirms the MP’s statement that he has no brother. Since his father had six siblings, it is also consistent with what the MP told us (below): that the suspect is the grandson of one of his father’s brothers. The Rajakaruna family home is in Millathe, Kirindiwela, so relatives with the same surname living in the area is entirely plausible. Bear in mind that the report was published 15 years ago and reflects the family details at that time.
MP Told Us the Suspect Is His Cousin’s Son
We contacted SJB MP Harshana Rajakaruna about the claim. He told us he has no brother and that the arrested man is the son of one of his cousins. As he explained it, the suspect is the son of a son of his father’s brother, in other words, the son of the MP’s first cousin.
We could not find an independent document confirming this exact relationship, so this detail rests on the MP’s statement to us. According to the MP, the suspect is his cousin’s son.
Based on the Daily News report and the MP’s statement, MP Harshana Rajakaruna’s family tree is shown below. It shows that the arrested suspect is not the MP’s brother but the son of his cousin. Boxes with dashed borders are based on the MP’s statement to us.
(Diagram prepared by Fact Crescendo based on the 2011 Daily News obituary and the MP’s statement. Names of family members who are not public figures have been removed for privacy.)
Police Have Not Confirmed Any ‘Brother’ Link
We also contacted the Police Media Division. They told us they had no record of a brother of SJB MP Harshana Rajakaruna being arrested.
Same Surname, Same Locality
The suspect and the MP share the same surname. The suspect reportedly lives in Millathe, Kirindiwela, where the Rajakaruna family home is also located, and the same locality appears in the address on the official seal of the MP’s media release. The seal describes him as the SJB Chief Organizer for Dompe, the Gampaha District electorate that includes Kirindiwela. A Gampaha District MP, he was also appointed SJB Deputy Treasurer in 2023, as The Morning reported.
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Conclusion:
Our fact-check found that a suspect was indeed arrested with firearms, live ammunition, and hand grenades in Kirindiwela on October 17, 2026. However, he is not the brother of SJB MP Harshana Rajakaruna. The MP has no brother, as his written statement made clear, and the 2011 Daily News report on his father’s death confirms it. The MP told us the suspect is the son of his cousin.
Posts describing the suspect as the MP’s ‘brother’ are therefore misleading. This conclusion is based on the MP’s media release of October 18, 2026, his statement to us, the 2011 Daily News obituary, the Police Media Division’s response to us, and news reports on the arrest.
