Retired Major General Aruna Jayasekara, now serving as Sri Lanka’s Deputy Defence Minister, is at the centre of fresh controversy as Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) President’s Counsel Mohamed Nizam Kariapper has called on the government to investigate whether a “Big Boss” is manipulating the Easter Sunday attack investigation through his alleged involvement.

Speaking in Parliament on 23 September, Kariapper questioned if Jayasekera — once a decorated officer during the 1988–89 JVP insurrection and later the Eastern Commander of the Army appointed shortly after the controversial 2018 political coup — is now involved in obstructing justice by suppressing critical evidence related to the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

Kariapper raised serious concerns about Aruna Jayasekera’s involvement in the National People’s Power (NPP) election campaign in 2023 as the head of the retired military officers’ union, shortly before assuming his current role in the defence ministry. “Was this a part of a larger intelligence strategy?” he asked.

The MP highlighted that the CID had uncovered crucial evidence pointing to a connection between the weapons used by Zahran Hashim’s extremist group and the brutal killing of two police officers in Vavnathivu in 2018. CID investigations revealed that those weapons had been seized from the murdered officers and later used in the Easter bombings. The attackers were linked to Islamic extremists, including Zahran, and CID records indicate that an undercover informant had provided intelligence on their activities to the Army’s 3rd Military Intelligence Unit as early as 2015.

Kariapper alleged that although the CID had presented solid findings, no action has been taken against any of the military officers implicated in these reports. Instead, it was a civilian translator — a Tamil sergeant — who was arrested, while senior intelligence officers including the commanding officer, the military intelligence chief, and others named in the reports remained untouched.

“Even though orders were issued to the Immigration and Emigration Department to seize the passports of suspects including Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan and Suresh Salley, they have neither been arrested nor named as suspects in the case,” Kariapper stated.

He further noted that according to case number B 35882/24 filed in the Magistrate’s Court on 24 November last year, several suspects had been identified, yet judicial proceedings have made no progress against them. He also referred to a suspicious incident involving a failed attempt to fabricate the death of a woman named Sara, and noted that police officers who were trying to translate Tamil evidence had also been arrested under questionable circumstances.

Referring to a parliamentary response from Minister Ananda Wijepala on 9 January, Kariapper said investigations had supposedly entered a “new phase” under the current government. According to the minister, statements had been recorded from 48 individuals including 12 civilian witnesses, seven army officers, 26 police personnel, and three prison officials. “But not a single one of these statements is mentioned in the latest ‘B report’,” he stressed.

He also pointed to a timeline linking Deputy Minister Aruna Jayasekera with key events: his appointment as Eastern Commander came just two weeks after Maithripala Sirisena removed Ranil Wickremesinghe from the premiership in October 2018. Weeks later, the two Vavnathivu police officers were killed, and intelligence narratives quickly blamed a former LTTE cadre named Ajanthan, allegedly based on military intelligence input.

Kariapper asked why only police officers were held accountable while military intelligence officers named in the CID’s report faced no consequences. He reminded the House that Jayasekera, as an officer during the late ’80s insurrection, had commanded operations against the JVP — and later served as Eastern Commander under Mahinda Rajapaksa before retiring in 2019. He re-emerged in 2023, forming an organisation of retired military officers and joining Parliament through the national list without facing an election.

“How did a person with such a background suddenly resurface and receive a powerful position as Deputy Minister of Defence?” Kariapper asked. “Who is the Big Boss behind all this? Who is blocking justice in the courts, and who is ensuring that the Eastern-based military intelligence officers are not brought before the judiciary?”

He concluded by urging the Deputy Speaker to take this matter seriously and uncover who is behind the apparent manipulation of national security investigations.