Detained Former State Intelligence Chief Ordered To Be Produced In Sri Lanka Court

Colombo: Suresh Sallay, the former head of the state intelligence service named as the third suspect in the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks probe, was on Thursday ordered to be produced in a Sri Lankan court next month.

Sallay was arrested on February 25 and is currently under detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for enabling the authorities to question him in a bid to track down the mastermind of the suicide bombings, which devastated churches and five-star hotels.

On April 21, 2019, over 270 people, including 11 Indians, were killed when suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels in the island nation on Easter Sunday.

Since his detention, visits by his closest family have been restricted as Sally is being held by the police’s CID on a 90-day detention order under the counter terrorism act.

On Wednesday, he was admitted to the national hospital for medical treatment for a few hours before being returned to the CID. The attack carried out by the jihadi group was rumoured to have taken place with prior information of the local defence establishment. The then government was accused of inaction to prevent attacks despite India's intelligence sharing on the impending attack.

Sallay, a retired Major General, headed the state intelligence service under the Rajapaksa government prior to 2015. The current National People's Power (NPP) government, in late 2024, reopened the Easter Sunday investigations, claiming that political influence had led to its cover-up.

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