Sri Lanka Arrests Former Intelligence Chief in High-Profile Probe Over 2019 Easter Sunday Bombings

Retired Major General Suresh Sallay was arrested at dawn in a Colombo suburb on Wednesday, Sri Lankan criminal investigators said, in connection with the April 21, 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people, including 45 foreign nationals.

Police and investigators said Sallay was taken into custody on charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the attacks. An investigating officer told AFP that Sallay had been in contact with people involved in the bombings "even recently." Sallay has previously denied involvement in organising the attacks.

"What we need is the truth behind the Easter attacks. We want to see justice for all the victims,"

The coordinated suicide strikes targeted three luxury hotels in Colombo, two Roman Catholic churches and an evangelical Protestant church outside the capital. The attacks left more than 500 people wounded and severely damaged the island’s tourism industry.

Authorities have blamed the violence on a domestic jihadist network. Two days after the bombings, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility, although investigators said they lacked evidence of a direct foreign operational link. Other inquiries faulted Sri Lankan authorities for failing to act on warnings from Indian intelligence that the attack was imminent.

Allegations, Media Reports And Political Context

British broadcaster Channel 4 reported in 2023 that Sallay had links to the Islamist bombers and had met with them prior to the attacks. A whistleblower who spoke to the broadcaster said Sallay allowed the attack to proceed to influence the 2019 presidential election in favour of Gotabaya Rajapaksa; Rajapaksa declared his candidacy two days after the bombings and later won the vote.

Independent sources and a former member of the jihadist group have said the militants were initially funded by a military intelligence unit to spread a fundamentalist ideology in Sri Lanka’s multi-ethnic eastern province. Sallay worked in the intelligence unit implicated in those allegations; the government at the time acknowledged some military involvement in backing elements of the radical group.

Sallay was promoted in 2019 to head the State Intelligence Service after Rajapaksa’s victory and was later dismissed following the 2024 election of Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who campaigned on prosecuting those responsible for the attacks. His arrest is the most high-profile development yet in a long-running investigation and comes ahead of the seventh anniversary of the bombings.

Legal Fallout And Ongoing Inquiries

In related legal actions, U.S. authorities in 2021 charged three Sri Lankans for supporting the Easter attacks; five U.S. nationals were among the victims. Those three are among 25 suspects indicted in Sri Lanka’s High Court. Sri Lanka's Supreme Court also ordered then-president Maithripala Sirisena and four senior officials to pay more than $1.03 million in a civil ruling for failing to prevent the attacks.

The United Nations has urged Sri Lanka to publish parts of earlier inquiries that were withheld from the public. Victims' groups and church leaders say they hope Sallay's arrest will lead to fuller accountability and clarity about the masterminds and the failures that allowed the attacks to happen.

Note: Sallay has denied allegations of orchestrating the attacks. Investigations and court proceedings remain ongoing, and arrests and charges do not constitute convictions.