The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday imposed an overseas travel ban on former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the Criminal Investigation Department’s inquiry into the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks, the first such restriction placed on the former wartime defence secretary since the probe was reopened.
Magistrate Pasan Amarasena issued the order after considering a CID motion, and directed the Court Registrar to immediately forward the order to the Controller of Immigration and Emigration. The court also barred two military personnel from foreign travel: Army Colonel Mohamed Ansar and Premananda Udalagama, also known as Silva, a former intelligence officer.
The orders were issued when the case involving retired Major General Suresh Sallay, the former Director of the State Intelligence Service, was called before the bench. Sallay, named as the third suspect in the Easter Sunday investigation, is currently under detention orders.
At the same hearing, the magistrate issued notice to the CID to present facts on Thursday (4) regarding a motion filed on behalf of Sallay by his defence.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as Defence Secretary at the time of the April 21, 2019 bombings, which killed more than 270 worshippers and tourists across three churches and three luxury hotels. He went on to win the presidency later that year and ruled until July 2022, when he fled the country during the economic crisis protests. He returned in September 2022.
The Easter probe has accelerated over recent weeks following the Attorney General’s formal naming of Sallay as a “key driving force” behind the attacks and several rounds of CID witness-intimidation disclosures.
