Warehouse Renter Spent Time Near Czech Blast Suspects' Hotel - Reports

PRAGUE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2021) Petr Bernatik, an arms dealer who leased warehouses in the Czech town of Vrbetice, was near the hotel where the suspects in the 2014 blast were staying a day before the tragedy, Czech media said Monday.

Bernatik, of Imex Group, traveled to the vicinity of the Corrado Hotel in the eastern city of Ostrava in October 2014, the public broadcaster Czech Radio said, citing sources familiar with the investigation.

He spent roughly 40 minutes near the place where suspected Russian operatives Anatoly Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin were staying, before going to the warehouses for an inspection.

He reportedly gave warehouse workers a leave of absence on the day of his visit.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has accused Russia of being behind the deadly explosion at the ammunition depot, a claim denied by Russia as absurd. President Milos Zeman caused an uproar last month when he said Russia's involvement was one of the suspected causes and urged the government to wait for the end of the probe.