The boss of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), Cherkaoui Habboub, revealed on Friday all the details of the criminal scheme of the terrorist cell behind the assassination of the Casablanca policeman.
Speaking at a press briefing held this Friday in Rabat, the head of the BCIJ, Cherkaoui Habboub, affirmed that the avenues of research and the results achieved come from joint work between the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST) and the Department of National Security, with the contribution of the Royal Gendarmerie and representatives of local authorities.
Cherkaoui Habboub said that all the field research procedures, the technical and scientific expertise carried out in this case, as well as the diagnostic steps that contributed to the arrest of the suspects, were carried out under the direct supervision of the prosecution. of the city of Casablanca and under the effective direction of the prosecution in charge of terrorism cases after the terrorist track is privileged.
Moreover, ” it was not possible to suggest any research hypotheses when the corpse was discovered at the crime scene, which forced the investigation team to deal with all possible hypotheses, including the terrorist motive hypothesis“, he indicated.
In addition, Cherkaoui Habboub specified that the method of carrying out this criminal act, the method of mutilating the corpse, the function of the policeman, the place of his surveillance, the clues which show that the suspects seized his functional weapon and his professional handcuffs, ” are all data and clues that confirmed from the outset that we are facing an organized criminal act committed by more than at least two people“, noting that the context of this act may have purely criminal motives, such as theft, or may follow an extremist background.
The head of the BCIJ explained that the testimonies collected during the investigation did not bring anything new to the investigation. He revealed that by analyzing samples and traces at the crime scene, and by tracing the route of the victim’s car, it was possible to arrest the first suspect in Casablanca, then the second in Sidi Harazem, and the third in Casablanca during another operation.
Regarding the motive for the assassination, Habboub said that it was confirmed, as soon as the suspects were arrested, that the motive was terrorism, since the respondents announced that they had recently pledged allegiance to the Emir suspected of “Daesh” and confessed that they planned to participate in a local terrorist project with the aim of seriously undermining public order.
He added that the defendants planned to join the terrorist organization in the Sahel countries, but the lack of funding caused them to change their plans to carry out individual terrorist acts and to carry out a larger operation by carrying out robberies. of banks.
What supports the rapid terrorism hypothesis, explains Habboub, is that the suspects only announced their allegiance a month ago, which makes this hypothesis more likely, given the low academic level of the accused, and that it is thus easy to deceive them, in particular via the “Darkweb”.
In addition, one of these defendants had a history in 2013 of violent robbery, drug use and possession of knives, he continued, adding that these suspects, aged 31, 37 and 50, had adopted individual terrorist methods and tactics, and that they intended to take advantage of the policeman’s weapon, in order to rob bank branches to fund a larger operation.
On the other hand, Habboub made a point of specifying that the citizens showed great cooperation with the investigation team and submitted their testimonies spontaneously, underlining the solidarity aspect shown by the Moroccan people who could be felt through the many messages of condolences.