German cops say gurdwara terror suspect a repeat offender

A teenager arrested for his alleged involvement in a terror strike at a gurdwara in the German city of Essen 10 days ago was a repeat offender, police have said.

The 16-year-old youth was also arrested for an attempted burglary at a shop in the city a day before the attack, a police spokesman said.

“As usual in the case of teenagers getting involved in petty crimes, police set him free after interrogation, registering his personal details and initiating a criminal case against him,” the spokesman said.

Police are now investigating whether the terror suspect, identified as Mohammed B and his 16-year-old accomplice Yusuf T had any links to the Salafists or other radical Islamist groups.

The duo is suspected of planting a bomb hidden in a backpack, in the entrance hall of the Nanaksar Satsangh Sabha Gurdwara.

The bomb exploded at the end of a wedding ceremony on April 16, injuring three persons, one of them seriously.

Read: Explosion injures 3 at gurdwara in western Germany: Police

Investigations are also focusing on how they got the instructions and the material to make a bomb, the spokesman said.

Police traced the two men after CCTV footage showed one them carrying a backpack with the logo “Russel Athletic”.

Investigators found the remains of a similar backpack in the debris of the explosion. They were apprehended in Essen and in the neighbouring town of Gelsenkirchen early last week.

The two suspects are currently in a preventive custody. Local media reports said Mohammed B is known to police as a “repeated offender”.

First Published: Apr 27, 2016 19:10 IST