War criminal caught in Altea

'Monster of Grbavica' was living in the town centre

By Tom Cain
NATIONAL Police have arrested a Serbian citizen in Altea who is believed to be Veselin Vlahovic, otherwise known as the 'Monster of Grbavica' or Batko, who is wanted by the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague on charges of genocide.

He is alleged to have killed more than 100 women and children and taken part in rape and torture during the war in Yugoslavia between Bosnia and Serbia.

Vlahovic is also wanted by the Spanish authorities in connection with a string of robberies which include a bank raid in Sella, an assault on a home in Salou, a shootout with the Guardia Civil in Tarragona and three robberies in Dénia, Altea and Benidorm.

A police spokesman said Vlahovic escaped from prison in the former Yugoslavia on June 18, 2001, where he was serving time for killing a man outside a bar in Montenegro, and shortly after that he began committing crimes in Spain.

Read more in this weeks Costa Blanca News edition