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  "path": "/news/1975788/sri-lanka-arrests-ex-spy-chief-over-2019-easter-bombings",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-26T02:59:47.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.dawn.com",
  "tags": [
    "World",
    "Easter Sunday bombings",
    "president"
  ],
  "textContent": "COLOMBO: Sri Lankan investigators arrested a former intelligence chief on Wednesday, the most high-profile official netted in the long-running investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.\n\nPolice said retired Major General Suresh Sallay was taken into custody at dawn in a suburb of the capital, Colombo.\n\n“He was arrested for conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday attacks,” an investigating officer told _AFP_. “He has been in touch with people involved in the attacks, even recently.”\n\nThe coordinated bombings targeted three upmarket hotels in the capital, two Roman Catholic churches and an evangelical Protestant church outside Colombo.\n\nThe attacks killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners, and were blamed on a homegrown jihadist group.\n\nPolice, in a statement, said that Sallay was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and would be detained for at least three days for questioning.\n\nHis arrest was welcomed by the Catholic church, and criticised by his still powerful supporters.\n\n“What we need is the truth behind the Easter attacks,” church spokesman Father Cyril Gamini Fernando told _AFP_.\n\n‘We want to see justice for all the victims.”\n\nThe church has accused successive governments of failing to identify the masterminds.\n\nThe April 21, 2019 attacks were the worst to target civilians in the country, where at least 100,000 people were killed in nearly four decades of civil war.\n\nSallay, who was promoted to State Intelligence Service (SIS) chief in 2019 after Gotabaya Rajapaksa became president, is accused of involvement in organising the suicide bombings, a charge he denies.\n\nHis long-expected arrest came ahead of the seventh anniversary of the bombings.\n\nBritish broadcaster _Channel 4_ reported in 2023 that Sallay was linked to the bombers and had met them prior to the attack. A whistleblower told the network that Sallay had permitted the attack to proceed with the intention of influencing that year’s presidential election in favour of Rajapaksa.\n\nTwo days after the bombings, Rajapaksa declared his candidacy and went on to win the November vote in a landslide after promising to stamp out extremism.\n\n_Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2026_",
  "title": "Sri Lanka arrests ex-spy chief over 2019 Easter bombings"
}