Sri Lanka’s public security minister told Parliament on Wednesday that the country’s former intelligence chief had orchestrated the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, marking the first official allegation directly linking him to the bombings that claimed 279 lives, including 11 Indians.
Minister Ananda Wijepala said Major General Suresh Sallay, who was arrested in February on charges of “aiding and abetting” the attacks, had allegedly selected a church as one of the targets.
The coordinated bombings, considered the deadliest terror attack against civilians in Sri Lanka’s history, targeted three luxury hotels in the capital, two Roman Catholic churches, and an evangelical Protestant church near .
“Investigations have revealed that Retired Major General Tuan Suresh Sallay conspired with and strategically directed Islamic extremists until they carried out the attacks. Just three weeks prior to the attack, Sallay met Muslim men to obtain details of the location and the congregation,” Wijepala, according to AFP.
Sallay has rejected the allegations through his lawyer, maintaining that he had no role in the attacks.
According to Wijepala, Sallay was admitted to hospital on Sunday after beginning a hunger strike while being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Opposition supporters have staged protests in the capital, calling for his release from detention.
Authorities have also obtained court orders barring former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa from leaving the country following Sallay’s questioning.
Sallay was appointed chief of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), Sri Lanka’s primary intelligence agency, in 2019 shortly after Rajapaksa assumed the presidency. Before leading the SIS, he served as head of the country’s military intelligence unit.
British broadcaster Channel 4 reported in 2023 that Sallay had connections with the Islamist militants responsible for the Easter Sunday suicide bombings and had allegedly met them before the attacks took place. The report cited a whistleblower who claimed that Sallay allowed the attacks to go ahead in an effort to influence the presidential election later that year in favour of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Just two days after the bombings, Rajapaksa announced his presidential bid and later secured a landslide victory in the November election after campaigning on a promise to eliminate Islamist extremism.
While the Criminal Investigation Department has not formally identified Rajapaksa as a suspect, official sources indicated that investigators are expected to question him in the near future.
Sri Lanka Lanka court directs medical examination to verify Sallay’s torture claim
Acourt on Wednesday directed a five-member panel of judicial experts to examine allegations that former state intelligence chief Suresh Sallay was subjected to torture while in detention, as per PTI.
Sallay, who was arrested under the country’s anti-terrorism law, has been receiving treatment at the national hospital since last week after beginning a hunger strike in protest against what he claimed was degrading treatment during his detention.
The magistrate’s court in Colombo said the panel would carry out a medical assessment to determine whether Sallay had experienced any form of mistreatment or abuse while in custody.
He was arrested on February 25 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and detained for questioning over his alleged involvement in planning the coordinated Easter Sunday suicide bombings of April 21, 2019. The attacks targeted churches and luxury hotels across Sri Lanka.
Sallay was transferred to hospital last week after his wife, Manori Sallay, wrote to the inspector general of police alleging that her husband had been subjected to “torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”
