POLICE believe foreigners travelling alone and on remote roads, and who ignore police safety advice, are being targeted by criminals.
This is based on an analysis of a recent series of armed robberies and other crimes.
In response, Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Boiko Borissov has ordered police directorates throughout the country as well as all departments of his ministry to take urgent steps against road attacks and robberies, in terms of a project launched last Sunday.
Incidents in the past two weeks include:
Commenting on the incident involving the Serbians, Braikov said there were “contradictory evidences” regarding what had happened.
Meanwhile, last weekend, a closed session of top Interior Ministry officials discussed a list of 52 people known to be involved in crime. All have previous arrest records and have been out on bail for up to five years, with the exception of one who has been re-arrested.
The list was discussed ahead of the launch last Sunday afternoon of a programme of prevention of road attacks and robberies. It is to be circulated to the Prosecutor’s Office and to regional investigating offices.
Last Friday, Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov said that the crime rate had dropped by 7.05 per cent while the rate of successful follow-ups by police to crimes had increased by 2.5 per cent in the past year.
“The Interior Ministry deserves a positive evaluation for its performance in the first six months of 2002 and this is not just our own assessment but that of society also,” Petkanov said.
This is based on an analysis of a recent series of armed robberies and other crimes.
In response, Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Boiko Borissov has ordered police directorates throughout the country as well as all departments of his ministry to take urgent steps against road attacks and robberies, in terms of a project launched last Sunday.
Incidents in the past two weeks include:
- The robbery of a Turkish family last Sunday on the E-80 international highway near the village of Kazichene, close to Sofia. A 48-year-old man, his wife and two children were forced out of their luxury vehicle and robbed of 8,700 euros, jewellery, a video camera and personal documents. The robbers then locked the parents in the boot and put the children in the rear seat, and drove them to the village of Vitinya where they abandoned the car;
- On July 16, two Turkish citizens travelling on the Trakia highway were stopped by four masked men and robbed of 20,000 euros, gold jewellery and mobile phones;
- Last Saturday, two Serb-ians were robbed in Sofia. Minko Braikov, deputy director of the National Police Service, said last Sunday he could not say whether there was a direct connection between the armed attacks on the foreigners on the highways, because it was possible there were different criminal groups at work.
Commenting on the incident involving the Serbians, Braikov said there were “contradictory evidences” regarding what had happened.
Meanwhile, last weekend, a closed session of top Interior Ministry officials discussed a list of 52 people known to be involved in crime. All have previous arrest records and have been out on bail for up to five years, with the exception of one who has been re-arrested.
The list was discussed ahead of the launch last Sunday afternoon of a programme of prevention of road attacks and robberies. It is to be circulated to the Prosecutor’s Office and to regional investigating offices.
Last Friday, Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov said that the crime rate had dropped by 7.05 per cent while the rate of successful follow-ups by police to crimes had increased by 2.5 per cent in the past year.
“The Interior Ministry deserves a positive evaluation for its performance in the first six months of 2002 and this is not just our own assessment but that of society also,” Petkanov said.
