The Attorney General’s Department on Wednesday formally identified former State Intelligence Service chief Suresh Salley as the “mastermind and contractor” of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, submitting a 14-page progress report to Fort Magistrate’s Court that traces the operation’s planning back to 2017.
Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris told Magistrate Pasan Amarasena that a CID team led by Director Shani Abeysekara had recorded a statement in France from Asad Maulana, former private secretary to ex-Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan (Pillayan). The statement was taken at the residence of Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Paris.
According to the submissions, Salley used Pillayan as an intermediary to engage Zaharan Hashim’s group after a March 2017 communal clash at Aliyar Junction left Zaharan associate Seyni Moulavi remanded. Military intelligence allegedly disbursed Rs. 250,000 in public funds to secure his bail, with Pillayan contributing a further Rs. 50,000. Six of the eight men later identified by Pillayan as “ready to die at any moment” reportedly went on to carry out the Easter bombings.
The ASG told court that more than 2,000 Pillayan loyalists drew salaries through military intelligence, and that the same network had been linked to the abduction of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, the killings of Lasantha Wickrematunge and Eastern University Vice Chancellor S. Raveendranath, and assaults on journalists Keith Noyahr and Upali Tennakoon.
Peiris said Maulana had kept five notebooks documenting meetings between Salley, military intelligence officers and Zaharan’s group. Hotel records from Ahungalla, where Maulana’s family was relocated after the attacks, are now in CID custody.
The ASG opposed producing Salley in open court, citing threats to his life and “an organised group outside attempting to prevent this investigation from proceeding beyond this suspect”. President’s Counsel Shavindra Fernando, for Salley, argued the France statement was inadmissible without cross-examination and noted Maulana faces an open warrant in Sri Lanka over bigamy allegations.
The same Wednesday court session also heard that Mahinda, Basil and Namal Rajapaksa visited Pillayan in prison after the attacks and pledged to free him within a week of Gotabaya winning the presidency. Pillayan has since confessed to the murder of Eastern University Vice Chancellor Raveendranath in a separate court proceeding. Salley was remanded by the Fort Magistrate in May as the CID’s progress report was accepted.
The Magistrate reserved orders on whether Salley will appear in open court and whether he may record a Section 127 statement. The case was postponed to June 2, with the rulings expected on July 1.
