-By LeN Special Correspondent
(Lanka-e-News -17.May.2025, 11.15 PM) In what appears to be the most poorly-scripted act of political theatre in recent Sri Lankan memory, former Presidential Director General of Public Relations and shadowy political operative, Tusitha Halloluwa, has once again seized the headlines — this time not with scandalous accusations against the sitting President but with claims of having narrowly escaped a “mysterious” shooting incident on the streets of Narahenpita.
With all the flair of a political B-grade thriller, Halloluwa lodged a complaint at the Narahenpita Police Station late Thursday night, alleging that he was the target of a drive-by shooting. The timing, as critics point out, couldn’t be more convenient.
Only days before the recent local government elections, Halloluwa had dramatically appeared before the press, levelling grave — and entirely unsubstantiated — allegations against President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The spectacle was short-lived. Following a seven-hour interrogation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Halloluwa disappeared from the public eye.
But like all seasoned dramatists, his absence was merely the pause before the next act. Re-emerging on Thursday night with a tale straight out of a political pulp novel, Halloluwa told police that two individuals on a motorbike had opened fire at his vehicle while he was travelling along Dabare Mawatha. According to the complaint, the attackers first fired warning shots into the air, followed by a direct shot at the vehicle’s windscreen — curiously, on the left side where no one was seated.
Despite the supposed assassination attempt, neither Halloluwa, nor his legal companion — the equally notorious political tactician Dinesh Dodangoda — sustained even a scratch. The driver, too, was unharmed. The car, meanwhile, bore only a single bullet mark — a theatrical flourish, perhaps, rather than a credible threat.
In what can only be described as the plot twist of the evening, Halloluwa claimed that a “crucial file” in his possession had been stolen amidst the chaos. The file, he insisted, contained “sensitive documents” relating to his allegations against the President — conveniently providing him with a pretext for his previous media claims, which many had dismissed as unsubstantiated political mudslinging.
This sudden turn of events — a shooting with no injuries, no witnesses, and no suspects, but a conveniently missing file — has drawn widespread ridicule and suspicion from both the public and seasoned observers of the country’s ever-dramatic political circus.
Social media was quick to pounce. One viral comment summed up public sentiment: “If he died, it would’ve been the underworld. Since he’s alive, it’s Halloluwa’s own doing.” The post, while sarcastic, reflects the disbelief with which much of the public views this apparent assassination attempt.
Indeed, the very absurdity of the incident — a gunman firing warning shots into the air and then one, conveniently misdirected bullet into an empty seat — smacks less of political vendetta and more of a poorly executed PR stunt.
The Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) has now taken over the investigation. But as critics point out, the focus should perhaps not be on the alleged shooting itself, but on Halloluwa’s rapid and unexplained accumulation of wealth.
Arriving in Colombo years ago as a near-penniless man in rubber slippers, Halloluwa, despite having no known registered business enterprise, somehow ascended the ranks of political patronage — securing appointments in successive governments and amassing what now appears to be a vast fortune in cash, land, and assets. Under the Proceeds of Crime legislation, his financial history might warrant closer scrutiny than his bullet-riddled windshield.
Also travelling with Halloluwa at the time of the alleged shooting was former media fixer Dinesh Dodangoda, an equally controversial figure with a reputation for political stagecraft and backroom propaganda. That Dodangoda, too, emerged unscathed from the alleged ambush has only deepened public scepticism.
Speculation is now rife that this was a calculated distraction — a narrative reset for Halloluwa, whose credibility had suffered following his failure to produce any credible evidence in his earlier allegations against the President.
Interestingly, Halloluwa once served as media spokesman for former President Ranil Wickremesinghe. In a bizarre twist of fate, MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake’s wife — the current media spokesperson for Wickremesinghe — might soon find herself replaced by Halloluwa again, assuming the scriptwriters of this drama find the need for a sequel.
But there is a deeper danger here. In a country battling with serious governance and justice issues, incidents like this reduce public faith in real victims and real investigations. They trivialise both journalism and justice — replacing them with theatricality and deception.
For veteran political observers, the performance was transparent from the start. No gunman worth their underworld salt fires into the air first, nor aims for the empty seat in a car. There is no real assassination attempt without motive, injury, or a credible timeline.
This leaves Halloluwa and his allies in a precarious position. If they hoped to distract from an ongoing police complaint, they’ve only succeeded in drawing more scrutiny. If the intent was to regain media attention, it may well backfire as investigators begin to dig into his asset base under the framework of anti-corruption laws.
It is time, perhaps, not just for the CID, but for the Bribery Commission and the Financial Intelligence Unit to shift their focus. Halloluwa’s trajectory — from a political nobody to a wealthy, SUV-driving media manipulator — defies logic unless examined through the lens of systemic corruption.
As Sri Lanka stumbles its way through a fragile recovery from economic collapse, such figures serve as grim reminders of how power has long been abused for personal gain. Halloluwa’s latest drama is not just embarrassing. It is symbolic of a wider rot — one in which political operatives manufacture chaos, narratives, and even ‘assassination attempts’ to rewrite their relevance and escape accountability.
Whether the current investigation yields anything of substance remains to be seen. But for now, one thing is certain: Tusitha Halloluwa is not a victim of a violent conspiracy. He is, at best, the author of an amateurish political script — and at worst, a desperate man seeking to avoid the consequences of his own fabrications.
As for the missing file, we can only quote Colombo’s social media wits again:
"Check under the seat, Tusitha. Maybe the truth is hiding there."
-By LeN Special Correspondent
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by (2025-05-17 20:01:19)
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