News
Alleged secret meeting with NTJ: Maj. Gen. Sallay says he was not in Sri Lanka for whole of 2018
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay, in his present capacity as Director, State Intelligence has told Channel 4 Television that he was not in Sri Lanka for the whole of 2018 as he was in Malaysia as Minister Counsellor of the government of Sri Lanka.
Therefore, the accusation that he met several members of the National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) including Mohamed Hashim Mohamed Zahran in Karadipuval, Puttalam in Feb. 2018 was baseless, he has said.
The intelligence officer has asked the British television station to verify his claim with the Malaysian authorities. Career diplomat Pakeer Mohideen Amza was the Ambassador in Malaysia at the time (16.01.2016 to 28.06.2019).
Maj. Gen. Sallay has also told Channel 4 that on April 21, 2019, the day of the Easter Sunday blast, he was in India, where he was accommodated at the National Defence College (NDC). That could be verified with the Indian authorities,
Maj. Gen. has said, strongly denying Channel 4’s claim that he contacted one of Pilleyan’s cadre’s over the phone and directed him to pick a person outside Hotel Taj Samudra.
According to Sallay, during his entire assignment in Malaysia from Dec 2016 to Dec 2018, he had been to Colombo only once for one week in Dec 2017 to assist in an official inquiry. Having returned to Colombo, Sallay had left for NDC in late Dec 2018 and returned only after the conclusion of the course in November 2019.Maj. Gen. Sallay has said so in response to questions posed by Ben de Pear, founder, Basement Films tasked with producing a film for Channel 4 on the Easter Sunday bombings. The producer has offered Sally an opportunity to address the issues in terms of Broadcasting Code while inquiring into fresh evidence regarding the officer’s alleged involvement in the Easter Sunday conspiracy.
The producer sought Sallay’s response in August this year in the wake of political upheaval following the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa elected at the November 2019 presidential election.
At the time, the yahapalana government granted a diplomatic appointment to Sally, he had been head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI).The Basement Films has posed several questions to the Maj. Gen. on the basis of accusations made by Hanzeer Azad Maulana, one-time close associate of State Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan aka Pilleyan, former LTTE member.
In response to the film producer’s query regarding Sally’s secret meeting with six NTJ cadres who blasted themselves a year later, the officer has questioned the very basis of the so called new evidence as he was not even in the country during the period the clandestine meeting is alleged to have taken place.
Activities of extremist elements and the growing threat posed by them was first raised in parliament by the then Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC. The minister earned the wrath of a section of the government parliamentary group for demanding tangible measures to neutralize the threat. Dr. Rajapakshe’s concerns were simply dismissed by the then Yahapalana government.
… reminds AKD led over 560 protests during Yahapalanaya
Former Yahapalana Minister and United Republican Front (URF) leader Patali Champika Ranawaka yesterday (19) alleged that the JVP, which carried out over 560 protests during the 2015-2019 period, was now bent on preventing the Opposition from exercising its democratic right to protest.
Recalling the declaration made by the JVP at the height of the violent protest campaign in July 2022 that it would set the Parliament ablaze, the former parliamentarian lashed out at the JVP-led administration for using the police excessively to curb political opposition. Ranawaka said this while addressing the media at the former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Flower Road Office .
Commenting on the protest campaign launched by the Maha Sangha, demanding presidential pardon for General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Ven. Galagotaatte Gnanasara, the ex-Colombo District lawmaker alleged that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake used a combination of police, investigative units and JVP cadres to break up the monks’ protest. The government went to the extent of compelling the JVP/NPP-run Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) to deprive the peaceful protesters of basic toilet facilities, he alleged.
The government’s actions proved that only those with prior approval from JVP Pelawatte headquarters could launch protests in Colombo, its suburbs or in the provinces. The police have become a political tool in the hands of the JVP, the ex-Minister said. (SF)
By SK Samaranayake
Six people were killed and seven others injured when a speeding bulker lorry carrying cement and concrete ploughed into several vehicles and a shop on the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road at Kurugoda, Akurana, yesterday (19).
Four of the victims, two women and two men, died on the spot in the accident which occurred around 10.30 am, according to Alawathugoda Police.
Police said the bulker, travelling at high speed from the Matale direction, collided with three three-wheelers, two motorcycles and two lorries before veering off the road and crashing into a commercial establishment.
Five of the injured were rushed to the National Hospital of Kandy, where hospital sources said two remained in critical condition.
The bodies of the four victims were placed at the Akurana Hospital, where two others, who suffered minor injuries, were also receiving treatment.
The driver of the bulker was arrested by the Alawathugoda Police Traffic Division and is to be produced before court.
Investigations are being conducted under the supervision of Central Province Senior DIG Lalith Pathinayake.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
owledging that there had been an administrative lapse on the part of the President’s Office in 2019 when Maithripala Sirisena granted presidential pardon to Ven. Gnanasara Thera, Convener of Janathawadi Joint Opposition Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday (19) urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to rectify whatever those shortcomings and release the General Secretary of Bodu Bala Sena.
Addressing the media at the former President Ranil Wickrekmesinghe’s Flower Road Office, Prof. Peiris emphasized that it was not fair to hold Ven. Gnanasara accountable for lapse or technical fault of others at the Presidential Secretariat during President Sirisena’s tenure.
Prof. Peiris was flanked by UNP Chairman Wajira Abeywardena and United Republican Front (URF) leader Patali Champika Ranawaka.
The fresh appeal was made on behalf of Ven. Gnanasara in the wake of President Dissanayake and JVP heavyweight Anura Kumara Dissanayake ruling out fresh presidential pardon for the monk. Minister Lal Kantha declared that the government couldn’t under any circumstances meet the continuing monks’ protest demanding Ven. Gnanasara’s release. President Dissanayake dismissed repeated appeals for Ven. Gnanasara’s release when he addressed the NPP really in Badulla.
Sirisena granted presidential pardon in May 2019 even before he completed a year of his six-year term of rigorous imprisonment for contempt of court during proceedings of the media personality Prageeth Ekneligoda’s 2010 January disappearance in the Homagama Magistrate’s court.
At the onset of the regular weekly briefing, Prof. Peiris said that he would report to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) today (20) morning as requested by the commission. “The CIABOC wanted to record my statement regarding a meeting I chaired at the ministry after the conclusion of the war in 2009 pertaining to an ongoing investigation.”
Commenting further on the imprisonment of Ven. Gnanasara, the former parliamentarian said that President Sirisena intervened following a spate of requests made on behalf of BBS General Secretary by the Mahanayakes, Anunayakes and other Maha Sangha.
The Supreme Court on 10 September, 2026 rescinded the presidential pardon granted in late May 2019.
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Ranawaka accuses govt. of using JVP cadres and police to suppress political opponents
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Prof. Peiris, summoned by CIABOC, appeals for Ven. Gnanasara’s release
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