Why Azad Maulana fled from Sri Lanka to Switzerland via India

In recent times there has been a lot of interest in the man known as Azad Maulana.

- By D.B.S. Jeyaraj

There is much speculation in the media that Azad Maulana is being interviewed by Sri Lankan officials regarding the Easter bombings. It is also being suggested that he would soon give evidence in Sri Lanka regarding the Easter bombings.

It is against this backdrop that this column with the aid of earlier writings-has been focusing on Azad Maulana in this trilogy. The first article was published on 18 April 2025 under the heading "TMVP leader Pillaiyaan's arrest, 2019 Easter bombings and Azad Maulana's revelations". The second article was published under the heading "Easter bombings conspiracy theories and importance of Azad Maulana's testimony". In this third article the focus would be on how and why Azad Maulana allegedly left Sri Lanka and became a refugee in the West.

I have not been able to converse directly with Azad Maulana so far but have been communicating with several informed sources ranging from residents of his village Maruthamunai to activists from International non-governmental organisations familiar with all aspects of his case. The three articles in this series have been pieced together on the basis of information gathered from these informed sources.

At the outset, it must be emphasised that all allegations made by Azad Maulana on Channel 4 TV are yet to be verified and authenticated. Moreover, they have been denied as falsehoods by those whom the allegations were levelled against especially Maj-Gen Sallay.

The charge made against Sallay by Maulana hinges around an alleged meeting at Karadippooval in Puttalam between the intelligence chief and Zahran Hashim the National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) leader and livewire behind the Easter bombings.

Maulana's allegation as stated in the documentary is essentially conjecture and inference based on that meeting.

However, it must be said in fairness to Suresh Sallay that he has denied being in Sri Lanka at the time of the meeting