The man thought to be behind last week’s botched bombing in Copenhagen has admitted his identity for the first time since his arrest. Chechnyan boxer Lors Doukaiev confirmed his name at Copenhagen City Court on Monday, despite previously claiming that he couldn’t remember it.
The court decided to extend the alleged bomber’s period of isolation until October 4. Doukaev was arrested on 10th September in connection to a minor explosion at the Jorgensen Hotel in Orstedsparken, Copenhagen. He was apparently seen running from the hotel covered in blood after a bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely.
According to BT newspaper, the 24-year-old’s identity was first revealed when his Belgian boxing trainer recognised him from the photograph circulated by police. Doukaiev had been living in Liege with his mother for the past five years.
The trainer said Doukaiev was learning to box at the Club Cocktail in Liege after coming to Belgium to study architecture. The man’s home has been searched by Belgian police but they have not been able to confirm his identity as they do not have his DNA on file.
According to Danish police inspector Svend Foldager, the suspect purchased a pair of rubber gloves similar to those found at the hotel. It is thought that Doukaiev was preparing a letter bomb to be sent to Jyllands-Posten – the newspaper that first published controversial cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad in 2005 – when the explosive went off by accident in the hotel toilet.