The state police mobilised their special units to help the Federation's entity and cantonal level police finding Edin Gacic, the murder suspect who has been at large since last Monday, Bosnia's Security Minister Dragan Mektic said on Monday.
“SIPA (the State Investigation and Protection Agency) engaged part of its special unit, we are exchanging the information and we will provide as much of help as possible from the state level,” said the minister, adding that the case falls under the jurisdiction of Bosnia's Federation entity and lower levels.
Edin Gacic has been at large since February 4, the day when the body of Sead Sultanic was found in Podorosac, near the central town of Konjic.
Suspect Gacic went into hiding and evaded the police hunt. He then allegedly murdered a police officer who was guarding a police facility near Tarcin.
“This is a person who is ill and strongly aggressive, and he poses a very serious threat to security,” the minister said, pointing out that all security agencies should get involved in solving this case.
Gacic was convicted of a murder back in 1999 and was sentenced to 14 years of prison.
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However, during a prison leave in 2002, he murdered his own mother, after which he was subsequently sentenced to 20 years of prison.
Prior to the expiration of his sentence, Gacic was transferred to a Bihac prison in the north-west of Bosnia. Despite the warning of the prison administration that he was a high-risk person who might commit a crime again, competent authorities failed to follow the recommendation of putting him into a mental facility after he was released.
Minister Mektic said that Gacic's case opens a question of “how big is the role of the state in this crime because it enabled this person to be free and not isolated after all, although it was known he had a severe mental disorder expressed in a highly aggressive way.”
The police have continued the search for Gacic throughout Monday and all law enforcement agencies are working in full capacity, Acting Director of Federation's Police Administration Ensad Korman told N1.
“We formed a headquarter and invited (police) commissioners from several cantons, they all responded. Everyone's working in full capacity. SIPA provided one unit. I got a call from Republika Srpska (entity) Police Director Darko Culum, who offered support as well. We have no problems with coordination,” Korman said in N1's Dan uzivo programme.
He refused to speculate how come Gacic was not under surveillance after being released from prison.
“It makes it harder for the police, we're returning to the person we once had arrested,” said Korman.
“Special police units, the best equipped in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are engaged in this case. We possess the necessary protective equipment,” he added.
The police chief urged the citizens to help the police and report any suspicious person who might resemble Gacic's description.
