Sri Lanka Arrests Ex-Spy Chief Over 2019 Easter Bombings

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Colombo: Sri Lanka’s former intelligence chief, Suresh Sallay, has been arrested on allegations of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the 2019 Sri Lankan Easter Attacks, in which nearly 300 people were killed.

An investigating officer said Sallay was taken into custody at dawn in a suburb of the capital and faces charges linked to the coordinated suicide bombings that targeted churches and luxury hotels on April 21, 2019. Sallay has previously denied any involvement.

Six near-simultaneous explosions struck Easter congregations at three churches and guests at three high-end hotels during breakfast service, killing more than 260 people, including 45 foreign nationals, and injuring over 500 others. The attacks severely impacted Sri Lanka’s tourism-dependent economy.

In the immediate aftermath, authorities blamed a local Islamist extremist group. However, Sallay was also accused by critics of playing a role in orchestrating the attacks.

In 2023, a British media outlet aired a documentary alleging Sallay had links to the bombers and had met them before the attacks. A whistleblower claimed he allowed the plot to proceed to influence the 2019 presidential election in favour of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa announced his candidacy two days after the bombings and went on to win the November election on a national security platform.

Sallay was later appointed head of the State Intelligence Service following Rajapaksa’s victory but was dismissed after Anura Kumara Dissanayake assumed office in 2024, pledging accountability for the attacks.

Separate investigations have criticised authorities for failing to act on prior warnings from Indian intelligence about an imminent threat.

In 2023, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ruled that former President Maithripala Sirisena and four senior officials had failed to prevent the bombings. The court ordered Sirisena to pay 100 million rupees in compensation to victims’ families, while other top security officials were directed to collectively pay an additional 210 million rupees.

The United Nations has urged Sri Lanka to release withheld portions of previous investigative reports into the attacks.

Investigations into the Easter bombings remain ongoing.