TIRANA, March 13 – An explosion at a small cellphone repair shop in Tirana rented by 34-year-old Gentian Hoxha on Tuesday raised doubts the shop also served as an illegal hub to assemble cellphone controlled time bombs.
Hoxha had been renting the repair shop for about four months according to neighbors, who, along with the police, know nothing more about him than what he looked like.
Despite the suspect’s mysterious past, local media reported the investigative group has little doubt Hoxha was preparing a cellphone controlled bomb, as they found detonation equipment, fire-transmitting wicks and explosive matter remains on the table Hoxha was working and got injured upon the explosion.
In this context, police has also begun investigating and verifying Hoxha’s contacts.
Hoxha was interrogated during his prolonged hospital stay and given a prison sentence for being in possession of weapons and military ammunition even though his testimony said the package which exploded was sent to him from an unknown individual.
Controlled bomb and mine explosions often lead headlines in Albania, the latest being an explosion at a Shkodra neighborhood in January that wounded eight people.
Most of these explosions target individuals with criminal pasts or unresolved business conflicts, yet they also almost always affect innocent passersby-s or targets’ neighbors due to the wide destructive force of the explosives, thus being a major threat to public order and safety.
