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Colombo Chief Magistrate orders CID probe on Sallay’s complaint

27 Oct 2021

BY Buddhika Samaraweera Colombo Chief Magistrate (CM) Buddhika Sri Ragala yesterday (27) ordered the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to initiate an investigation into the complaint lodged by State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay regarding an allegation made against him. Accordingly, the CID informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court yesterday that investigations would be initiated into the complaint, after which the CM ordered the CID to commence the relevant investigation and inform the court of its progress. The allegation, made by the Catholic church, was that the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) terror group behind the Easter Sunday bombings was supported by the intelligence services, including Sallay in his former capacity as the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) Director. Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, National Catholic Social Communication Centre Director Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando, and several others attended a recent online forum during which this allegation was made. A complaint was then filed at the CID against Rev. Fernando and others who attended the said forum by Maj. Gen. Sallay on 25 October. Meanwhile, The Morning reported yesterday that Rev. Fernando and several others who attended the said online forum, in which allegations related to the Easter Sunday terror attacks on 21 April 2019 were made against Maj. Gen. Sallay, are likely to be summoned by the law enforcement agencies to record statements regarding the said allegation. When contacted by The Morning, Public Security Ministry Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retired) Jagath Alwis said that Rev. Fernando and others who attended the said discussion would have to come and give a statement regarding the basis on which the allegations against Maj. Gen. Sallay were made. The Archbishop too took part in the said online discussion alongside Rev. Fernando, but when questioned as to whether the Cardinal would also be called in for questioning, Alwis was non-committal. “Well, I don’t know if the Cardinal was there or not,” he said. In the complaint lodged with the CID, Maj. Gen. Sallay has requested that legal action be instituted, in addition to Rev. Fernando, against the others who attended the said online forum. During the said discussion between the Catholic church and a group of Sri Lankans living abroad last week, a presentation was made, which alleged that there is credible evidence that Maj. Gen. Sallay, who was the then DMI Director, and other intelligence agencies, had provided financial and other forms of support to the NTJ group, including its leader Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran alias Zahran Hashim (who was one of the suicide bombers of the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo on 21 April 2019), prior to 2015.


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