Sri Lanka’s Opposition activists demanding the discharge of Suresh Sallay participate in a sit-in protest in Colombo.
| Photograph Credit score: AFP
Sri Lanka’s Public Safety Minister informed parliament on Wednesday (June 10, 2026) the nation’s ex-intelligence chief directed the 2019 Easter Sunday assault, within the first official assertion linking him on to the bombings that killed 279 individuals.
Minister Ananda Wijepala stated Main Common Suresh Sallay, who was arrested in February on accusations of “aiding and abetting” the assault, had recognized a Catholic church to be bombed.
Sri Lanka’s worst single terror assault in opposition to civilians concerned bombings in opposition to three upmarket inns within the capital, two Roman Catholic church buildings and an evangelical Protestant church exterior Colombo.
“Investigations have revealed that Retired Main Common Tuan Suresh Sallay conspired with and strategically directed Islamic extremists till they carried out the assaults,” Mr. Wijepala stated.
“Simply three weeks previous to the assault, Sallay met Muslim males to acquire particulars of the situation and the congregation,” the Minister added.
Mr. Sallay, by his lawyer, has denied any involvement.
Mr. Wijepala stated Mr. Sallay was admitted to hospital Sunday after launching a starvation strike whereas being detained below the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Opposition activists have been demonstrating in Colombo demanding his launch from custody.
Following Mr. Sallay’s interrogation, investigators have secured courtroom orders stopping former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from leaving the island.
Mr. Sallay was appointed head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), the nation’s important spy company, in 2019, quickly after Rajapaksa grew to become president.
He additionally headed the army intelligence unit previous to taking up the SIS.
British broadcaster Channel 4 reported in 2023 that Sallay was linked to the Islamists who carried out the suicide bombings and had met them previous to the assault.
A whistleblower informed the community that he had permitted the assault to proceed with the intention of influencing that 12 months’s presidential election in favour of Rajapaksa.
Two days after the bombings, Mr. Rajapaksa declared his candidacy and went on to win the November vote in a landslide after promising to stamp out Islamist extremism.
The Felony Investigation Division has stopped wanting naming Mr. Rajapaksa as a suspect, however official sources stated he was more likely to be questioned shortly.
Printed – June 11, 2026 07:31 am IST