Serbia Arrests Suspect in Bezanijska Kosa Bomb Attacks
Police arrested a 24-year-old man suspected of throwing a hand grenade at the same house in Bezanijska Kosa, New Belgrade, twice, in June and August.
Serbia’s Ministry of Interior (MUP) has announced the arrest of A.S., born in 2002, a suspect accused of throwing a hand grenade at the same family house in Bezanijska Kosa, New Belgrade, on two separate occasions. The ministry’s statement places the location broadly in New Belgrade, while Kurir and Pink report that the house sits specifically in the Bezanijska Kosa neighborhood.
According to the statement, the first attack happened on June 30. The suspect allegedly armed and threw a hand grenade at the house, and the device went off. Police suspect he repeated the act on August 14, again targeting the same house, but that grenade failed to explode.
Fifty-six days passed between the first attack and the arrest. Eleven days passed between the second attack, the one with the grenade that did not detonate, and the arrest.
The suspect faces charges of unauthorized production, possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosive materials, as well as causing general danger, the ministry said.
The arrest was carried out by the Department for the Investigation of Explosions, Fires and Accidents within the Criminal Police Directorate of the Belgrade Police Department, acting on the order of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade. The operation was coordinated with the Criminal Police Directorate, the Directorate for Technique, and the Special Operations Unit.
Kurir reports that the suspect was sitting in a cafe at the moment of his arrest. Both Kurir and Pink describe him as 24 years old, which matches the 2002 birth year given in the ministry’s statement.
The suspect has been ordered held for up to 48 hours. After that, along with a criminal complaint, he will be brought before the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, which will decide on the further course of the proceedings.
Belgrade has seen other cases of explosive devices thrown at residential buildings this year. We previously reported on an explosive device in Kotez that forced the evacuation of ten residents. That was a separate incident at a different location, with no known connection to the Bezanijska Kosa case, but together the two show how frequent such attacks have become in the city this summer.
