by Our Correspondent in Colombo
The Court of Appeal this week heard detailed submissions alleging that multiple intelligence warnings identifying Easter Sunday suicide bomber Zahran Hashim and his associates had been shared with Sri Lanka’s law enforcement authorities months before the 2019 terrorist attacks, but were not acted upon, as proceedings continued in a petition filed by former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director Major General (Retired) Suresh Sallay.
Appearing on behalf of the petitioner, President’s Counsel Sanjeewa Jayawardena told the court that the SIS had submitted a list of 129 individuals believed to have been influenced by ISIS ideology to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on January 31, 2019. The list, he said, included Zahran Hashim, who later led the coordinated Easter Sunday suicide bombings that claimed hundreds of lives.
The submissions were made during the resumed hearing of Sallay’s writ petition challenging his arrest and detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in connection with investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks. Jayawardena’s arguments focused on intelligence material and evidence presented before previous official inquiries, raising questions about the handling of information available to investigative authorities before the attacks took place.
According to Jayawardena, the Janak de Silva Presidential Commission report records that the SIS had forwarded the list of 129 followers linked to the National Thowheeth Jama’ath to the CID at the beginning of 2019. He argued that the report documented the existence of individuals promoting ISIS ideology in Sri Lanka and questioned why arrests had not followed despite what he described as extensive intelligence provided to investigators.
The court also heard submissions referring to international intelligence warnings received before the attacks. Jayawardena stated that Pakistan’s intelligence agencies had alerted Sri Lankan authorities in 2018 about the presence of an Islamist extremist group operating in the country. Those warnings, he said, formed part of a broader body of intelligence indicating the activities of extremist networks before the Easter Sunday bombings.
Expanding on the chronology presented before the court, Jayawardena referred to an affidavit previously filed by former SIS Director Nilantha Jayawardena. According to that affidavit, between October 31, 2017, and the Easter Sunday attacks in April 2019, the SIS had submitted 97 intelligence reports to the Inspector General of Police concerning extremist activities allegedly carried out or planned by Zahran Hashim and members of his group. Copies of those intelligence reports had also been forwarded to the CID, the court was told.
The submissions outlined several investigations that had already drawn the attention of authorities to individuals later linked to the Easter Sunday attacks. Jayawardena said inquiries into the vandalism of Buddha statues in Mawanella and the discovery of explosives in Wanathawilluwa had connected Zahran Hashim and his followers to extremist activity. He further told the court that an SIS intelligence officer had supplied information identifying locations where suspects were believed to be hiding.
According to the President’s Counsel, that intelligence officer had previously testified before a commission of inquiry that the Easter Sunday attacks could have been prevented had the CID acted on the intelligence available at the time. That evidence, Jayawardena argued, formed part of a consistent record indicating that information had been gathered and shared among relevant authorities before the coordinated bombings occurred.
The hearing also revisited the intelligence alert received from India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) less than three weeks before the attacks. Jayawardena told the court that the warning, received on April 4, 2019, informed Sri Lankan authorities that followers of the National Thowheeth Jama’ath led by Zahran Hashim were planning an attack.
According to the submissions, former SIS Director Nilantha Jayawardena transmitted the warning to the Inspector General of Police while copying the CID. The subsequent movement of the intelligence communication through the police hierarchy formed a significant part of the arguments presented before the Court of Appeal.
Jayawardena said the intelligence letter reached the office of then Senior Deputy Inspector General Ravi Seneviratne on April 9, 2019. However, he told the court, it was forwarded to then Deputy Inspector General Nagahawatte only on April 16. The communication was subsequently sent to the Director of the CID on April 22, one day after the Easter Sunday bombings had already taken place.
The President’s Counsel also referred to evidence previously given by Ravi Seneviratne before the Janak de Silva Commission. According to that testimony, Seneviratne had been overseas attending a conference from April 7 until April 13, 2019, before resuming official duties on April 16. Jayawardena noted that the intelligence letter ultimately left Seneviratne’s office only on April 19, placing additional emphasis on the sequence of events described in court.
The hearing further examined statements attributed to Seneviratne during his appearance before the commission of inquiry. Jayawardena told the court that Seneviratne had acknowledged the CID was already aware of the activities of Zahran Hashim and the extremist group. At the same time, according to the submissions, Seneviratne had stated before the commission that there was “no action the CID could have taken” in relation to the information available.
Drawing together the chronology of intelligence reports, investigative leads and international warnings presented during the hearing, Jayawardena questioned how the same officials who had previously handled those matters could now be entrusted with investigating the Easter Sunday attacks. He urged the Court of Appeal to take that issue into consideration while hearing the petition.
The proceedings form part of the continuing legal process surrounding the aftermath of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka’s history, and the subsequent investigations into intelligence gathering, information sharing and institutional responses before the attacks occurred.
Following the day’s submissions, the Court of Appeal postponed further hearing of the writ petition until July 21, 2026, when proceedings are scheduled to resume.
