Sri Lanka's Ex-Intelligence Chief Accused of Directing 2019 Easter Bombings

Sri Lanka's Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament on Wednesday that retired Major General Suresh Sallay, the country's former intelligence chief, 'conspired with and strategically directed' Islamic extremists in the April 21, 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which targeted three luxury hotels and three churches in and around Colombo, killing 279 people including dozens of foreign nationals. Wijepala said Sallay had personally identified a Catholic church as a target and met members of the extremist network just three weeks before the coordinated suicide bombings. Sallay, who was arrested in February under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, has denied all involvement through his lawyer and was hospitalized Sunday after beginning a hunger strike in detention, while opposition activists have rallied in Colombo demanding his release. The accusations build on a 2023 Channel 4 investigation in which a whistleblower alleged that elements within Sri Lanka's intelligence apparatus allowed the attacks to proceed in order to influence the presidential election in favor of Rajapaksa, who declared his candidacy just two days after the bombings and won in a landslide on a platform of combating Islamist extremism. Following Sallay's interrogation, investigators secured a court order preventing former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from leaving the island, and official sources indicate he is expected to be questioned soon, though the Criminal Investigation Department has not formally named him as a suspect. The Easter Sunday attack remains Sri Lanka's deadliest act of terrorism since the end of its civil war, and Wednesday's parliamentary statement represents the first time the government has officially linked a senior state official to the orchestration of the bombings.