Did a Syrian want to extinguish the lives of many people with a murderous attack?
The small town of Tostedt (14500 inhabitants) in Lower Saxony was in great turmoil on July 7. Police officers, some heavily armed, could be seen in many places. But the authorities remained silent for over a week about the reason for such a large-scale operation.
Then it came out: the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) had received information from a foreign intelligence service about a dangerous person in Tostedt who, according to the service’s findings, was planning a “serious act endangering the state”.
The newspaper BILD learned that the Syrian Mihar A. (27) had come to the attention of the authorities in a refugee accommodation near the Tostedt railway station because he was suspected of wanting to carry out a terrorist attack with an explosive belt.
Mr A. had come to Germany as an asylum seeker. According to the news magazine “Spiegel”, he had asked for prayers to be offered on his behalf on social media before a suspected attack was planned.
But this never happened! On July 7, investigators from the Federal Criminal Police Office, police officers from Lower Saxony and constitutional protectors intervened, arrested the Syrian near his accommodation, and had previously searched for the man with numerous police forces – which had triggered fear in the population.
Investigators then searched Mihar A.’s room of about ten square metres in the street Am Helferichheim, where he had been living since December 2022. However, no explosives or similar instrumentalities have been found so far.
A resident of the accommodation told BILD: “The police really searched everything. I can’t really imagine that Mihar wanted to plan such a crime. He seemed like a womaniser, but at some point he grew a beard and went to pray all the time.”
A judge placed the 27-year-old in long-term custody for 14 days. But the Syrian terror suspect was released on July 21 – to the consternation of the police! The police filed an urgent appeal, which was rejected by the Tostedt District Court. The police wanted to have the custody extended by 14 days for further investigations.
Now the Celle Higher Regional Court is to decide whether the suspect will be returned to custody. Until then, the police are hiding the terror suspect in a specially secured refugee accommodation in the industrial area in the street Zum Reiherhorst in Stelle.
BILD reporters tracked down Mihar A. there. He currently has to wear an ankle bracelet on his left foot with a transmitter, the data of which is transmitted around the clock to the police in Lüneburg. Asked by BILD about the terror suspicions, A. said: “I don’t want to say anything about the accusations.