COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s criminal investigators arrested the country’s former intelligence chief on Wednesday in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people, police said.
Retired Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay was taken into custody at dawn in a suburb of the capital, police said.
“He was arrested for conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday attacks,” an investigating officer said.
Sallay, who was promoted to State Intelligence Service (SIS) chief in 2019 after Gotabaya Rajapaksa became president, had been accused of involvement in the coordinated suicide bombings, a charge he has denied.
British broadcaster Channel 4 reported in 2023 that Sallay was linked to the Islamist bombers and had met them prior to the attack.
