Fact Check
A widely reported statement attributed to Anuruddha Gajanayake, Commissioner of Prisons (Operation/ Intelligence and Security/ Media Spokesperson) (Covering Up Duties), made in the context of prison overcrowding, claimed that Sri Lanka’s prisons were holding close to four times the number of people they had capacity to accommodate. He cited accommodation for only 11,000 people, while the current number of people was at around 40,000—of whom about 10,000 were convicted serving sentences and the remaining 30,000 were being held on unconfirmed charges—not convicted.
To verify this claim, FactCheck.lk reviewed prison population and capacity data published by the Department of Prisons of Sri Lanka, including its official statistics portal and the Prison Statistics of Sri Lanka 2025 report.
The statement contains two data points: (1) one on the size and composition of the people in prison, and (2) on the prisons’ accommodation capacity. FactCheck.lk assessed each against the latest available official figures, summarised in Exhibit 1.
The people in prison. As at 5 July 2026, the total number of people stood at 41,257, (the data point was cited as 40,000). Of these prisoners, 10,812 were convicted (cited as 10,000) and 30,445 were not convicted (cited as 30,000). This shows the speaker’s figures as reflecting the official numbers.
Accommodation capacity. The latest published capacity figure identified by FactCheck.lk is for end-2024, when the Department of Prisons recorded accommodation for 10,395 people (the speaker cited 11,000).
Using the number of people in prison recorded on 5 July 2026 and the latest published capacity figure, which relates to end-2024, shows an occupancy rate of 397%—that is, almost four time the accommodation capacity.
Therefore, we classify the prison spokesperson’s statement as TRUE.
Exhibit 1: Claimed figures compared with the latest official data (population of people in prison as at 5 July 2026; accommodation capacity as at end-2024).
FactCheck.lk’s verdict is based on the most recent information that is publicly accessible. As with every fact check, FactCheck.lk will revisit the assessment if new information becomes available.
Additional Note: The population of people in prison are current as at 5 July 2026, whereas the most recent published accommodation-capacity figure is for end-2024. The overcrowding ratio calculated here therefore compares a 2026 population against 2024 capacity. Because prison capacity changes slowly, this mismatch is unlikely to materially affect the conclusion, but the precise current occupancy rate cannot be confirmed until updated capacity data is published.