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Russian Terrorist Behind Saint Petersburg Blast | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A woman lights a candle at a symbolic memorial at Sennaya subway station in St Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)


Moscow- Russia’s Investigative Committee (IC) said on Tuesday it identified the suspect who carried out the terrorist attack in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg that killed 14 people and injured 49.

The man’s name is Akbarjon Djalilov, born in 1995 in Kyrgyzstan but holding Russian citizenship, IC spokesman Svetlana Petrenko said.

“The device that detonated on the train was set off by a man whose remains were found in the third car,” Petrenko said on Tuesday.

Investigators believe that Djalilov had placed the bomb inside a suitcase that he carried on his back.

“Forensic experts found his DNA on a bag with a bomb left at the Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro station,” Petrenko said.

She added that conclusions of DNA tests and CCTV footage give the investigators enough reason to presume that the man who committed the terrorist attack in the metro car, was also the one who had left the bag with the bomb at the Ploshchad Vosstaniya station.”

The blast on Monday ripped through a train carriage at a St Petersburg Metro tunnel between the Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut metro stations at around 3 p.m. local time and coincided with the visit of President Vladimir Putin to the city.

Hours after the first blast, security officials said they found another explosive device at the Ploshchad Vosstania station, hidden under a fire extinguisher, but had been made safe.

The IC has described the explosion as a “terrorist act,” but said investigators were also considering several scenarios.

Kyrgyzstan’s intelligence agency confirmed Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen Djalilov has been identified as the suspect behind the attack, Interfax news agency said.

The man is a native of Kyrgyzstan, in Central Asia, but had received Russian citizenship.

The IC has also questioned the train driver Alexander Kaverin, who decided to continue to the next station after hearing the blast. The decision of Kaverin, described as a “hero,” aided evacuation efforts and helped save many lives.