Suresh Sallay’s name became known across the country in 2016, during the Maithri-Ranil Yahapalana government. At that time, Suresh Sallay was the Director of Military Intelligence. He had been appointed to this post when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the Defense Secretary. Even though Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the 2015 presidential election and Gotabaya resigned as Defense Secretary, President Maithripala Sirisena did not remove Suresh Sallay from his position. He continued to serve as Director of Military Intelligence.
A few days after Maithripala became President, Gotabaya secretly visited his official residence. This was during the time the Maithri-Ranil government was investigating numerous allegations against Gotabaya, including the Avant-Garde and MiG aircraft deals. When investigation teams were preparing to arrest Gotabaya, he went to court and obtained a court order preventing his arrest. After obtaining this order, Maithripala made a surprising statement, saying that the court’s decision in favor of Gotabaya confirmed the independence of the judiciary.
Later, when former Defense Secretary Gotabaya and eight military leaders were summoned to court regarding the Avant-Garde charges, President Maithripala made a harsh speech accusing the Bribery Commission and the Financial Crimes Unit of embarrassing the war heroes who had won the war by bringing them to court. He said it was an insult to the nation to make these heroes sit on court benches and face humiliation.
Maithripala openly criticized Ranil’s government. Gotabaya and the military leaders, who had previously been accused of corruption by the Rajapaksa government, became heroes overnight. The UNP government and the civil organizations that had brought the Maithri-Ranil government to power began to collapse. Maithripala had planted a bomb—and the government ended up detonating it. The Rajapaksas became heroes overnight.
Ranil and the UNP government received intelligence that Maithripala’s speech had been based on information provided by Suresh Sallay, the Director of Military Intelligence appointed by Gotabaya. Sallay had warned Maithripala that arresting Gotabaya and other army commanders could provoke opposition within the army against the government. If unrest escalated, the government would be in serious trouble.
The UNP believed that Sallay had provided this intelligence at the behest of Gotabaya and the Rajapaksas, and that they were manipulating Maithripala through him. They secretly asked Maithripala to remove Sallay. To publicly attack him, the UNP used civil society organizations that had supported Maithripala, along with Rajitha Senaratne, a powerful minister in the government. Professor Sarath Wijesuriya, Gamini Viyangoda, and Venerable Dambara Amila Thero held a media conference claiming that Suresh Sallay, conspiring with the Rajapaksas to overthrow the government, should be removed immediately. Rajitha Senaratne accused Sallay of creating unrest in Jaffna to embarrass the government.
However, Maithripala did not want to remove Suresh Sallay, insisting that he was providing accurate intelligence. But he could not resist the combined pressure from Ranil, the UNP, and the civil organizations. The JVP also exerted influence, insisting that Gotabaya must be brought to justice, as they saw him as a future threat to the government. The JVP leaders met Maithripala, warned that the Rajapaksas were manipulating him through Sallay, and demanded Sallay’s removal. Frightened, Maithripala finally asked Sallay to step down.
The first major rupture between Maithripala and Ranil’s government began over Sallay. After this, Maithripala grew closer to Gotabaya and tried to repair relations with the Rajapaksas. Gotabaya assured him that if Maithripala contested the 2019 presidential election, he would support him and, if necessary, run as the Prime Ministerial candidate. At that time, Maithripala’s closest ministers, S.B. Dissanayake and John Seneviratne, publicly said that Maithripala was the President and Gotabaya was effectively the Prime Minister during the 2019 campaign.
In this sense, the Maithri-Ranil government began to crumble because of Suresh Sallay.
As the JVP had correctly predicted, Gotabaya became President and appointed Sallay as Head of the State Intelligence Service. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya and the UNP launched their first attack against Gotabaya’s government based on the Easter attacks. Harin Fernando and Manusha Nanayakkara, key figures in the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, indirectly targeted Suresh Sallay, claiming that the mastermind of the Easter attacks was protected by the government. They alleged that the Easter bomber had received a message mentioning ‘Sonic,’ identified as a security chief in the government. This allegation sparked the first wave of public discontent against Gotabaya’s administration, with the Catholic Church also joining the scrutiny.
After Gotabaya stepped back from the struggle, Ranil became President. Harin and Manusha became ministers. Ranil and his government did not touch Suresh Sallay, the head of the State Intelligence Service, and instead protected him from the Easter allegations. Ironically, Ranil and the UNP, who had demanded Sallay’s removal in 2016, became his protectors.
When Anura Kumara Dissanayake became President with the Church’s support, he promised to remove Suresh Sallay from the State Intelligence Service and find the mastermind of the Easter attacks. However, it took a month to remove him and a year to arrest him.
Why is that?
Suresh Sallay is a political bomb—a bomb capable of toppling governments. Whether Anura fully understands this or not remains unclear.
