The 28-year-old David Bodil, wanted on an Interpol Red Notice, was arrested by special police officers today, January 10 in the village of Lyubenovo, Nikopol municipality, Northern Bulgaria. His British grandparents had a property in the village.
The British national arrived in Bulgaria last November. Authorities in Manchester issued an Interpol Red Notice to search for Bodil in an investigation into suspected preparations of terrorist acts and sent a request for his detention in this country. He was arrested today in the village of Lyubenovo by the Bulgarian Counter Terrorism Unit.
In the course of searches at the house where the British citizen was detained, police found literature on bomb-making. Similar materials were found in Bodil's home in Britain last year.
"Interestingly, the Red Notice described the man as particularly dangerous, armed and aggressive. Through international exchanges, we have information that explosives, directions and blueprints for making explosive devices were found in his UK home. Today, during a search in the house in the village of Lyubenovo, where he was hiding, blueprints and diagrams of how to make a bomb and how to detonate them were found and seized. Expensive weapons were also found. Colleagues from the Pleven District Prosecutor's Office will detain the British citizen for up to 72 hours with a view to securing him before the Pleven District Court for the start of extradition proceedings," said Siyka Mileva, spokesperson for Bulgaria’s prosecutor general.
The arrest warrant for Bodil should be provided by the authorities in Manchester within 72 hours and the extradition proceedings will be dealt with under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Treaty, to which Bulgaria is a party.
According to BNT sources, Bodil was detained at a property adjacent to an organic farm owned by Bulgarian MP Albena Simeonova. Speaking to BNT, she denied it, but confirmed that she knew the British person.
- The boy has a house, it is his grandfather's. He lives there, at the other end of the village. It has nothing to do with me. The only thing I did was to help him get his electricity and water turned on at his grandfather's house.
So you know David Bodil?
- Yes, I know him, after New Year I took him to pay his electricity and water. Anyone would help a foreigner who arrives here. Moreover, his grandfather was very close friend of mine.
His grandfather lives in Bulgaria and he's British, right?
- His grandfather Philip and his grandmother Janie bought a house in our village at the other end of the village, in their name, nothing to do with me.
And is this property in any way adjacent to your organic farm?
- No, no! It is at the other end of the village. The mayor asked me to translate for him because nobody speaks English in the village. I've seen him for half an hour.
Does it surprise you that the British authorities are looking for him?
- It surprises me a lot, he seems extremely normal.
The mayor of the village of Lyubenovo, Madlena Kazakova, refused to stand in front of the BNT camera, saying she had not seen and did not know the British man.
His neighbours commented that he used to come to the village when he was young. Malinka Marinova said that they knew him as a very calm and gentle person who did not smoke or drink alcohol. Since he came to Lyubenovo at the end of November, they have helped him with his living and heating.
According to investigators in the UK, David Bodil has become radicalised in recent years after becoming involved with far-right and neo-fascist groups in the UK.
In late November, 2022, Bodil announced on one of his social media accounts that he was leaving the UK to avoid becoming a victim of British justice and had no intention of returning to his homeland. He accused the government in London of violating the rights of its citizens on a daily basis.
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