POLICE NET ARUSHA MOST WANTED BOMBING SUSPECTS

POLI CE in Arusha  yesterday named a “most wanted” suspect said to be behind a wave of terrorist attacks in Arusha and Zanzibar.

ARUSHA REGIONAL POLICE COMMANDER L.SABAS

Arusha Regional Police Commander Liberatus Sabas said thorough investigations had established that Mr Yahya Hassan Hella, alias Sensei, was the mastermind behind the terror network responsible for several deadly attacks.

“We have established that he is not only behind the grenade and acid attacks in Arusha,  but is the chief coordinator of this terror network,” he said, adding that the suspect hailed from Kondoa District in Dodoma Region.

Mr Sabas named the suspect as two people appeared in court in Dar es Salaam on terrorism charges.

He said police were also looking for Mr Hella’s accomplices, adding that some of them could have fled the country.

“We have the names of key suspects who have fled Arusha and gone into hiding in other parts of Tanzania and outside the country,” Mr Sabas said.

Nineteen more suspects have been arrested in recent days, taking the number of those in custody to more than two dozen.

Mr Sabas said more people were due to appear in court in Arusha today in connection with attacks which have rocked the northern city in recent months.

Police sources said those arrested in recent days include suspects linked with the grenade attack at a Chadema campaign rally in Arusha on June 15, last year.  The blast killed four people.

The opposition party said it had a video implicating police in the incident.  The Police Force has strongly denied involvement in the attack at Soweto grounds.

Sources also said the suspects in custody included 12 people who were allegedly involved in the  May 5, 2013 grenade attack at a church in Olasiti, Arusha.

 Three people were killed and 60 others wounded when the grenade was hurled into the congregation as the Vatican envoy to Tanzania, Francisco Padilla, was about to grace the official inauguration of the church building.