Sofia Police Chief Denies Reports of Crime Escalation

The Head of Sofia Police Directorate, Chief Commissar, Valeri Yordanov, says broad daylight murders are reason for alarm. Photo by BGNES

The insurance business of 53-year-old man, Vasil Lazov, who was shot dead in Bulgaria's capital Sofia in broad daylight on Monday, is the top lead of police investigators.

The information was reported Tuesday by the Bulgarian National Radio, BNR, citing the Head of Sofia Police Directorate, Chief Commissar, Valeri Yordanov.

Lazov was gunned down with two bullets in the head.

His assassination became the third gangland killing in Bulgaria's capital in the past 15 days, after at the end of last week a gambling businessman from the southwestern city of Blagoevgrad Yordan Dinov was killed in Sofia. Dinov's murder was preceded by the assassination of Kiril Kirilov, aka Shkafa, one of the suspects in the Impudent kidnappers' case.

Commenting on the murders, Yordanov said that there is no escalation of crime in the capital, however, such blunt murders were alarming and stirred public tensions.

"These murders in broad daylight worry me. Such crimes have wide-spread repercussion and speak volumes about human relations in the city," said he, but added that since the beginning of 2012 the number of crimes was down by 1 000, compared to the same period of 2011.

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