BEIRUT: Police arrested a man suspected of murder in greater Beirut Wednesday just 24 hours after the killing took place, while a kidnapping plot was foiled in Tripoli.
The Internal Security Forces said its personnel detained a Syrian national, identified as A.Sh., after he allegedly murdered a man in the town of Zalka Tuesday.
The ISF said that its Information Branch arrested the suspect after he confessed during interrogations to murdering the victim, identified as T.S., as well as stealing and selling several electronic devices in connection with the crime.
The suspect also confessed to the attempted murder and mugging of a Belgian man in the Beirut neighborhood of Raouche in 2011, in addition to committing an unspecified number of thefts in Beirut and Mount Lebanon.
Police have launched investigations into the incidents.
Separately, Army Intelligence announced in a statement the arrest of two Syrian men, identified as Mohammad Saadoun and Ahmad Saleh, in the Tripoli neighborhood of Qibbeh. The two men allegedly tried to blackmail and intimidate the wife of a local businessman living abroad. The statement said that the suspects threatened to kill the woman, identified as R.N., and her children as well as saying they would blow up her house if she didn’t pay them $100,000.
In the Beirut neighborhood of Hamra, the ISF’s Information Branch arrested three people at the office of a notary public for committing real-estate fraud.
The notary public, Joe Fayyad, discovered a forged ID card with the name of the owner of the land, Shadia Jarrah. Fayyad suspected fraud after noticing a listing price of $700,000 for a plot of land that is valued at $30 million.
The suspects, Hussein Ali Olayyan and two accomplices, were arrested after Fayyad notified the police.
Investigations have been launched to identify whether the three men had formed a gang and whether they had committed similar crimes in the past.
Meanwhile, police arrested a Lebanese man and two Syrian men in Beirut for outstanding warrants related to various crimes.