Hundreds of policemen and soldiers searching the terrain in Montenegro and Serbia were unable to track down the fugitive even yesterday. Alija Balijagić (65), suspected of killing him on October 25 in the Bjelopolje village of Sokolac Jovana (60) and Milenka Madžgalj (69)
For the rapist and robber, who spent almost four decades in prisons, the Montenegrin police have been searching for nine days and nights, the Montenegrin army has been searching for a day less, and the Serbian police have been on their toes for two days and two nights because of the information that Balijagić was spotted on their territory. .
Until the conclusion of this issue of "Vijesti", he eluded them all.
All that the investigators can confirm with certainty so far is that Balijagić committed a double murder, as this was shown by expert reports conducted at the Danilovgrad Forensic Center.
It is also known that the killer's biological traces were found in a whitewashed house in the Bjelopolje settlement of Grančarevo.
Ten nights ago, Balijagić killed his brother and sister Madžgalj, who only a few hours earlier had fed him and treated him with brandy, with a hunting rifle, most likely a five-shot.
The murder happened only a few hours after the police, in search of Balijagić, visited the village of Sokolac and the hamlet of Zaboj, where the house of the victims of Madžgalja is located.
After he is believed to have shot Jovan Madžgalje in the back, his sister managed to call the police and report the crime.
"That's when the relationship ended. He killed her too," the brother of the murdered told "Vijesti" earlier. Velibor Madžgalj.
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Since the night of the murder, the police have received dozens of reports from citizens who claimed to have seen him in various villages in the territory of Bijelo Polje, Mojkovac, Kolašin, Beran, and then in the border zone with Serbia, in the territory of that country, in the area of Prijepolje.
And yesterday there were such reports, claims the interlocutor of "Vijesti" from the Police Directorate.
"Every application was checked, but Balijagić was not found. In addition, the terrain was searched today, houses on the slopes of the mountains, in the border area with Serbia, were checked. Colleagues from their side also did the same," said the interlocutor of "Vijesti" from the Police Directorate last night.
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PTJ, SAJ, Gendarmerie, Army...
The Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced yesterday that they are intensively searching for Balijagić, for whom an Interpol warrant has been issued for double murder, and who was located a day earlier in the vicinity of Prijepolje and was seen in a village near the border with Montenegro.
Yesterday morning, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia published photos from the field, explaining that members of the Criminal Police Directorate, the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit, the Gendarmerie, the border police and police officers from the police departments in Prijepolje and Užice are participating in the extensive search and search of extremely inaccessible terrain.
"The action is carried out in coordination with the Montenegrin police, because it is an area that is located near the border between the two countries. The search of the terrain, where there are a large number of caves, pits and coves, is carried out with the involvement of drones, official search dogs, as well as special thermal imaging cameras, and so far more than 80 abandoned buildings have been inspected", their announcement reads.
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Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and head of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ivica Dacic, yesterday morning he repeated that the day before there was certain information from the field, stating that a person who was reasonably suspected to be Balijagić was spotted in two places.
"It is about Prijepolje and the border zone towards Montenegro... We have been communicating with the police and the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro for two days, cooperating with each other, bearing in mind the possibility that he could easily be transferred from one side of the border to the other, because he knows field, that's why we raised the level of preparedness", said Dacic in the morning daily on RTS.
He pointed out that the presence of police officers in all lines of work has increased.
Two hours after the announcement by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia, the Montenegrin Ministry of Internal Affairs also provided the media with photos from the field, with the announcement that police capacities "are dedicated to the maximum level of engagement to search the field with the aim of depriving fugitive Alija Balijagić of his freedom."
"The coordinated activity of the Montenegrin and Serbian police in the border zone is a detailed search of a large area in very difficult conditions on the territory of both countries," said the Montenegrin MUP.
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They pointed out that the action was carried out by members of "elite police and military units":
"Anti-terrorist units (PTJ), Special Police Units (PJP), Special Purpose Squad (OPN VCG), Border Police, officers of the Regional Security Center 'North', with the involvement of MUP and Army helicopters, drones, thermal imaging cameras and tracking dogs. In addition to ensuring the safety of local residents in numerous villages, over 100 square kilometers of territory and several hundred buildings in rural and mountainous areas were searched during the past nine days. Colleagues from the Croatian police also provide significant help on the ground with the involvement of their official tracking dogs," said the department he manages. Danilo Šaranović.
In the statement, they boasted about the action of arresting a fugitive from the Serbian police, who, according to the statement, was deprived of his liberty before the crime in the village of Sokolac.
"Situations like this show how important inter-police cooperation in the region and the synchronized fight against all forms of crime are. This is evidenced by the action of deprivation of liberty in an abandoned building in a Bjelopolje hamlet ten days ago of a person who was wanted by the Serbian police on grounds of suspicion that he had committed a series of crimes in the territory of the municipality of Sjenica, including serious murder in a brutal manner. This cooperation is also confirmed these days by the synchronized search for Alija Balijagić, for which we are especially grateful to our Serbian colleagues", announced the Montenegrin MUP.
Not long after that announcement, the media received a new report, along with a video of the action from the field and an explanation that, on average, around 200 police officers and more than 70 soldiers were engaged in the search for Balijagić per day.
"While the average daily engagement of two helicopters was around 12 hours and drones around three hours, as well as dozens of hours of ground searches with drones, which can be seen on the footage of the search for Bajilagić. On the other hand, there is great engagement and maximum coordination of activities in the border, terrain, very challenging area, with members of the police forces of the Republic of Serbia", they announced.
Bonus video:
