Identity of the attacker killed in the assassination of Slaviša Krunić revealed

(Patria) - The attacker killed during the brutal assassination of businessman Slaviša Krunić last night in the village of Glamočani near Banja Luka is Željko Kovačević.

In 2016, media reported that Željko Kovačević was accused of extorting 24,800 KM from Amir Smailagić, the owner of the well-known Banja Luka grill restaurant "Kod Muje", on behalf of usurious interest on a loan.

He was also arrested in 2011 during the operation "Strijelac", when the police found 452 items suspected of being stolen and 20,000 marks in counterfeit coins of five marks each. For this, he was convicted in the first instance to five years in prison.

Kovačević was arrested based on an Interpol warrant from Croatia for robbery and attempted murder committed in 2009, but the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled for his release, as it was determined that he had BiH citizenship. He served a prison sentence only for the robbery from the 1990s.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska also commented on the murder of Slaviša Krunić, stating that an investigation is underway in Glamočani near Banja Luka at the scene where a shooting occurred last night, resulting in three fatalities and one person sustaining serious injuries.

"The investigation into the criminal offense of aggravated murder is being conducted by the Directorate for Organized and Serious Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, under the supervision of the Prosecutor's Office of Republika Srpska, Special Department for Combating Corruption and Organized and Most Serious Forms of Economic Crime," the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska announced.