A senior activist of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna has sought to clarify controversy surrounding the National Identity Card (NIC) number recorded in a bank account linked to the Siriliya Saviya project, a social welfare initiative run by Shiranthi Rajapaksa, the wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Addressing the issue, Mahinda Pathirana said the account in question had been opened using Shiranthi Rajapaksa’s passport, as she had not carried her National Identity Card at the time. He explained that she neither had the NIC with her nor could recall the number when completing the bank’s account opening application.

Pathirana noted that standard bank application forms include separate sections for recording passport numbers and NIC numbers. While Shiranthi Rajapaksa had correctly entered her passport number in the relevant field, the NIC section had been left blank due to the absence of the document.

According to him, a bank official subsequently entered a sample or “dummy” number in the NIC field in order to proceed with processing the application. He said the number recorded — 222222222V — was not an authentic identity number but merely a placeholder used by the bank officer.

Pathirana stressed that it would be impossible for any individual to possess such an NIC number, adding that banking systems would not accept an application unless all mandatory fields were completed. He alleged that this procedural action was now being misrepresented as evidence of fraud.

He further claimed that the matter was being retrospectively portrayed as a financial irregularity, despite the circumstances under which the account was opened being routine and administrative in nature.

The issue has drawn public attention amid ongoing scrutiny of financial records linked to politically connected social welfare initiatives.