Sri Lanka Easter Sunday 2019 bombings directed by ex-spy chief who 'directed Islamic extremists': Minister Wijepala

Sri Lanka’s public security minister told parliament on Wednesday that the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks were masterminded by the country’s former intelligence chief, the first official allegation directly linking him to the bombings that killed 279 people, 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 chosen a Catholic church as one of his targets.

The coordinated bombings, believed to be the deadliest terrorist 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 Colombo.

“Investigations revealed that retired Major General Tuan Suresh Sallay conspired and strategically directed the Islamic extremists until they carried out the attacks. Just three weeks before the attack, Sallay met with Muslim men to get details of the location and gathering,” Wijepala said, according to AFP.

Sallay, through his lawyer, denied the charges, saying he had no role in the attacks.

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According to Wijepala, Sallay was admitted to hospital on Sunday after he went on hunger strike while being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Opposition supporters staged protests in the capital and demanded his release from custody.

Authorities also obtained court orders barring former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa from leaving the country after Sallay’s interrogation.

Sallay was appointed head 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 the head of the country’s military intelligence unit.

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British broadcaster Channel 4 reported in 2023 that Sallay had links to the Islamist militants responsible for the Easter Sunday suicide bombings and had allegedly met with them before the attacks. The report cited an informant who claimed that Sallay allowed the attacks to continue in an effort to sway the presidential election later that year in favor of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

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Just two days after the bombings, Rajapaksa announced his candidacy for president and later secured a landslide victory in November’s election after campaigning on a promise to stamp out Islamist extremism.

While the Criminal Investigation Department has not officially identified Rajapaksa as a suspect, official sources said investigators are expected to question him in the near future.

A Sri Lankan court ordered a medical examination to verify Sallay’s torture claim

A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday ordered a five-member panel of judicial experts to investigate allegations that former state intelligence chief Suresh Sallay was tortured in custody, according to PTI.

Sallay, who was arrested under the country’s anti-terrorism law, has been receiving treatment at a national hospital since last week after he went on hunger strike to protest what he said was degrading treatment during his detention.

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court said the commission would carry out a medical assessment to determine whether Sallay had experienced any form of ill-treatment or abuse in custody.

He was arrested on 25 February under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and detained for questioning over his alleged involvement in the planning of the coordinated Easter Sunday suicide bombings on 21 April 2019. The attacks targeted churches and luxury hotels across Sri Lanka.

Sallay was taken to hospital last week after his wife, Manori Sallay, wrote to the Inspector General of Police that her husband had been subjected to “torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”.