Sinhala extremist and National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa has claimed that the arrest of former State Intelligence Service director Major General Suresh Sallay was carried out to appease the Tamil diaspora, as investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings continue.
Speaking at a media briefing on 27 February at the National Freedom Front head office, Weerawansa alleged that the arrest formed part of a broader political effort aimed at satisfying external pressure and shielding those responsible for the attacks.
“Sallay is accused of maintaining links with Zahran. Yes, intelligence officers engage not only with Zahrans and Prabhakarans, but with everyone. Remember, it was the intelligence unit that began monitoring Zahran as soon as information about extremist activity came to light. What is happening now is a major betrayal. This is aimed at appeasing the Tamil diaspora while shielding the real perpetrators of the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks,” he alleged.
He further suggested that the arrest could be used to pursue action against former president and accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa, claiming that authorities were seeking to implicate senior figures associated with Sri Lanka’s military and intelligence apparatus.
“Their next target is Gotabaya Rajapaksa, using the arrest of Suresh Sallay. This is just nonsense. Will someone like Easter attacks mastermind Zahran Hashim sacrifice his life to make Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is known as a staunch Sinhala Buddhist, as the President? What is this nonsense?” Weerawansa questioned.
Weerawansa defended Sallay’s conduct, arguing that intelligence officers are required to maintain contact with extremist elements in the course of gathering information. “Intelligence is always inside the enemy,” he said.
The comments come after the Criminal Investigation Department arrested Sallay earlier this week in connection with ongoing investigations into the Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 269 people in coordinated attacks on churches and hotels in 2019. The arrest follows revelations in a Channel 4 documentary which implicated senior Sri Lankan officials, including Sallay, based on testimony from whistleblowers.
Sallay has denied the allegations, stating he was not in Sri Lanka during key events and rejecting claims that he met National Thowheeth Jamaath leader Mohamed Hashim Mohamed Zahran or directed operatives linked to paramilitary leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan.
The investigation into the bombings has been marked by allegations of state involvement and intelligence failures, with scrutiny repeatedly falling on senior military and political figures.
Sallay has long been a controversial figure within Sri Lanka’s intelligence apparatus. His tenure has been linked to a series of high-profile abuses, including attacks on journalists and the coercion of a Tamil doctor into giving false testimony following the massacres at Mullivaikkal in 2009, when tens of thousands of Eelam Tamils were killed.
Tamil civil society groups have long pointed to the role of Sri Lanka’s intelligence services in state repression against the Tamil people, including enforced disappearances, surveillance and intimidation. Calls for accountability have grown in the years since the end of the armed conflict.
