The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court has ordered former State Intelligence Service Director Major General (Retired) Suresh Sallay to provide the Criminal Investigation Department with the passwords to his mobile phone and computer as part of the ongoing investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
The order was issued on Wednesday by Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena, while Sallay remains detained and questioned under a detention order in connection with the attacks.
According to the Daily Mirror, the court directed Sallay to provide the passwords for the purposes of the CID investigation. The Magistrate also delivered rulings on several applications made by the defence at the previous court date.
The court rejected a defence request to remove the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department from the investigation. It also dismissed an application seeking permission for Sallay to receive newspapers, writing materials and legal statutes while in custody.
A further defence application under Section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seeking permission for Sallay to make a statement before the Magistrate that would not amount to a confession, was also rejected. The Magistrate held that such a statement could interfere with the ongoing investigation.
The court also dismissed an application seeking the release of the first and second suspects on the basis that there was no further evidence against them under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
However, the Magistrate granted a request allowing Sallay, identified as the third suspect, to appear before future court hearings via video link rather than being produced in person. A separate application seeking judicial supervision over legal access to Sallay was also rejected.
The case was adjourned until 2 September.
On that date, the Magistrate is also expected to deliver rulings on an application made by counsel for the original complainant and on an application by military officer Ajith Shantha Kumara Jayathilaka, who is seeking permission to make submissions before court without legal representation.
Sallay was arrested by the CID on 25 February in connection with investigations into the Easter Sunday bombings, which killed more than 260 people in coordinated attacks on churches and hotels in 2019.
The investigation gained renewed attention after a Channel 4 documentary alleged links between senior Sri Lankan officials, military intelligence figures and the attacks. Sallay has consistently denied involvement in the bombings.
Prosecutors have previously alleged in court that Sallay was the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks, an allegation he denies. His detention has since become a major political controversy in Colombo.
Opposition politicians and Buddhist clergy launched a Satyagraha campaign outside Colombo Fort Railway Station last month demanding his release and alleging that he was being mistreated in custody.
Sallay’s wife, Manori Sallay, has also lodged a complaint with Sri Lanka’s National Authority for the Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses, alleging that her children were subjected to surveillance by an individual believed to be linked to the CID. The family has repeatedly alleged mistreatment and abuse while Sallay remains in custody.
Those claims have been taken up by Rajapaksa-aligned politicians, who have framed the investigation as political persecution.
Sallay remains one of the most controversial figures in Sri Lanka’s intelligence establishment.
During his career, he has been linked to allegations involving military intelligence operations, military-backed gangs in Jaffna and the coercion of Tamil doctor T. Varatharajah after the Mullivaikkal massacres in 2009.