COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Feb. 25, 2026 — Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department arrested former intelligence chief retired Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, police said Wednesday, according to the AP and The Hindu.
The coordinated suicide attacks struck three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 279 people including 45 foreigners and wounding more than 500, a toll outlined by RTE, Al Jazeera, and The National, which reported the attacks were blamed on a homegrown jihadist group.
Arrest tied to long-running probe
Investigators said Sallay was taken into custody at dawn and is suspected of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the bombings, as Al Jazeera reported and RTE noted.
The Hindu said the arrest was made under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act and is the first high-profile detention in the case since President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office in 2024, a political shift also noted by Al Jazeera.
Warnings and accountability questions
The arrest renews scrutiny of intelligence failures and allegations from a 2023 Channel 4 documentary that claimed Sallay met bombers before the attacks, claims he has denied, according to the AP and Al Jazeera.
Previous inquiries faulted authorities for failing to act on Indian intelligence warnings, and Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ordered former President Maithripala Sirisena and senior officials to pay compensation to victims, details cited by RTE and The National.
Political fallout and next steps
Sallay led the State Intelligence Service after Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the 2019 presidential election in the wake of the bombings, and he was dismissed after Dissanayake’s 2024 victory, as Al Jazeera reported and RTE noted.
The United Nations has asked Sri Lanka to release parts of earlier inquiries that were withheld from the public, while the Catholic Church and victims’ families continue to demand the full truth, according to Al Jazeera and RTE.
Sri Lankan prosecutors have indicted 25 suspects in the case, and U.S. authorities charged three Sri Lankans in 2021 for supporting the attacks, milestones cited by RTE and The National as the investigation continues.
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