The main suspect in the shooting at a Istanbul nightclub on January 1 has been arrested, BBC reported on Tuesday. The incident left 39 people dead and several others injured. Abdulkadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national, was arrested from Esenyurt district in the Turkish Capital along with four other people on Monday, reported The Guardian.
Investigators said he would be questioned about the attack at the police headquarters in the city. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu thanked the security forces “who caught the Reina attacker in the name of the people”. Reina was one of the most popular nightclubs in the city.
The Turkish police had detained 35 people in connection with the incident on Sunday. The Islamic State group had said that they had carried out the attack to avenge deaths in Syria at the hands of Turkish military forces. Investigators said the attacker was a member of the outfit. He reportedly arrived in Konya with his family in 2016. He has two children. There had been speculation over the identity of the main accused – he was earlier believed to be a Kyrgyz national.
On January 4, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had confirmed that authorities had identified the assailant behind the attack, two days after officials had released his photo. However, the Turkish media later said the main accused in the incident had been identified as a jihadist from Uzbekistan.
On January 1, the attacker, dressed as Santa Claus, had fired indiscriminately at patrons at the club. Of the 39 dead, 27 were foreigners, including two Indians.
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