Investigators say Suresh Sallay aided and conspired within the lethal Easter Sunday attacks that killed practically 300 folks.
Published On 25 Feb 2026
Sri Lanka’s prison investigators have arrested the nation’s former intelligence chief in reference to the wave of 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 folks and upended the nation’s tourism financial lifeline, police stated.
Retired Major-General Suresh Sallay was taken into custody at daybreak in a suburb of the capital, police stated on Wednesday.
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“He was arrested for conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday attacks,” an investigating officer advised the AFP information company.
Sallay, who was promoted to State Intelligence Service (SIS) chief in 2019 after Gotabaya Rajapaksa grew to become president, had been accused of involvement within the coordinated suicide bombings, a cost he has denied.
Six virtually simultaneous suicide bomb attacks struck Easter congregations at three church buildings and company at three luxurious resorts throughout breakfast.
The bombings injured greater than 500 folks, additionally killed 45 overseas nationals, and dealt a extreme blow to the island’s important tourism sector.
In the aftermath, officers blamed an area armed group for the suicide bombings, however Sallay was additionally accused of orchestrating the assault.
British broadcaster Channel 4 reported in 2023 that Sallay was linked to the bombers and had met them earlier than the assault.
A whistleblower advised 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, Rajapaksa declared his candidacy and went on to win the November vote in a landslide after promising to stamp out violence.
Sallay was promoted to go the SIS, Sri Lanka’s major intelligence company, following Rajapaksa’s victory, however was dismissed after Anura Kumara Dissanayake received the presidency in 2024, promising prosecutions of these behind the assault.
Questions stay
Other investigations faulted the authorities for failing to behave on warnings from an Indian intelligence company that an assault was imminent.
In 2023, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court stated former President Maithripala Sirisena and 4 different senior officers didn’t avert the bombings.
It ordered Sirisena to personally pay 100 million rupees ($273,300) in compensation to kinfolk of victims who filed the civil case. The then police chief, two senior intelligence officers and the Ministry of Defence secretary have been collectively ordered to pay an additional 210 million rupees ($574,000).
The United Nations has requested Sri Lanka to publish elements of earlier inquiries into the bombings that have been withheld from the general public.
