In a bizarre twist of fate, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe now finds himself confined within Welikada Prison, a facility standing on 43 acres of land that once belonged to his own family. The irony has ignited political debate and drawn sharp commentary from the United National Party.
United National Party Chairman Vajira Abeywardena revealed at a media briefing today that the Welikada Prison, where Wickremesinghe was remanded after his arrest, sits on land once owned by his grandmother’s family. Producing land deeds as evidence, Abeywardena called the moment both “tragic and fateful.”
“After Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested, he was taken to the Welikada Prison land that belonged to his grandmother’s family. Looking at history, the original owners of this land were Ranil Wickremesinghe and his family. This is a very tragic and fateful moment,” Abeywardena told reporters.
He stressed that he possessed all the original land deeds confirming this claim and described the incident as a bitter irony for a leader from such a prominent lineage.
UNP General Secretary Thalatha Athukorala and Deputy Leader Akila Viraj Kariyawasam also attended the briefing, which cast Wickremesinghe’s detention as not just a legal drama but a symbolic fall from power to humiliation on ground once marked by family heritage.
