COLOMBO (LiCAS News): Sri Lanka’s criminal investigators arrested former State Intelligence Service chief, retired Major General Suresh Sallay, on February 25 in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners, in coordinated attacks on churches and hotels [Sunday Examiner, 28 April 2019].
Police said Sallay was taken into custody at dawn in a suburb of Colombo in the most high-profile arrest in the long-running investigation, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.
“He was arrested for conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday attacks,” an investigating officer said. “He has been in touch with people involved in the attacks, even recently.”
The 21 April 2019, suicide bombings targeted three luxury hotels in Colombo, two Roman Catholic churches, and an evangelical Protestant church outside the capital. More than 500 people were wounded.
The attacks were blamed on a homegrown jihadist group. Though ISIS claimed responsibility two days later, but investigators said they had no evidence to directly establish a link.
What we need is the truth behind the Easter attacks. We want to see justice for all the victims
Father Cyril Gamini Fernando
The Catholic Church, which has led calls for accountability since the attacks, welcomed the arrest as a sign that investigations are continuing.
“What we need is the truth behind the Easter attacks. We want to see justice for all the victims,” church spokesperson Father Cyril Gamini Fernando said.
Church leaders have previously accused successive governments of failing to identify the masterminds behind the bombings.
Sallay was promoted to head the State Intelligence Service in 2019 after Gotabaya Rajapaksa became president following the bombings. He had been accused of involvement in organising the suicide attacks, allegations he has denied. His arrest came days before the seventh anniversary of the attacks.
British broadcaster, Channel 4, reported in 2023 that Sallay was linked to the Islamist bombers and had met them before the attack.
A whistleblower told the network that Sallay had permitted the attack to proceed with the intention of influencing that year’s presidential election in favor of Rajapaksa, who declared his candidacy two days after the bombings and later won the November vote.
The United Nations has urged Sri Lanka to publish portions of previous inquiries into the bombings that were withheld from the public, as the Catholic Church continues to press for full accountability ahead of the anniversary
Other inquiries faulted authorities for failing to act on warnings from an Indian intelligence agency that an attack was imminent.
In a separate civil ruling, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court fined then-president, Maithripala Sirisena, and four senior officials more than US$1.03 million for their failure to prevent the attacks.
The United Nations has urged Sri Lanka to publish portions of previous inquiries into the bombings that were withheld from the public, as the Catholic Church continues to press for full accountability ahead of the anniversary.
In a report from UCAN, Families of victims expressed renewed hope for justice after police arrested a former top intelligence official over the coordinated attacks that killed 279 people.
Pradeepan Regan, who lost his six-year-old daughter in the blast at St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, said that the arrest marks a significant development.
“If she were alive today, she would be 13,” he said. “You cannot suppress the truth for long. Now it’s starting to come out. We want the full truth and justice. Our children did not die in vain.”
