CROATIAN POLICE TO STEP UP MEASURES AGAINST UNDERGROUND

ZAGREB, March 26 (Hina) - Croatian police director Ranko Ostojic said on Monday the police could not rule out the possibility that apart from Ivica Bertic aka Rus, whom the police arrested today, other persons, too, had been involved in last week's mob showdown in downtown Zagreb. Bertic, who is suspected of having seriously wounded James Capau, who tried to kill Vjeko Slisko, was arrested around 11 am today near his apartment in Zagreb's Dubrava neighbourhood, Ostojic told a news conference dismissing speculations that Bertic's hand-over had been previously arranged with the police. Capau died from his injuries two days after the shooting while Slisko is on life-support machines. In the past several days, the police carried out 183 raids with the aim of shedding light on the Zagreb mob showdown and several persons have been arrested, Ostojic said. Announcing new forms of the fight against the underground, Ostojic said the police would in the future search places which had been known for long as part of the crime scene and which had not been raided so far. In doing this, the police would not pick clans, he said. "We are going against the mob, and will not fight only one clan, thus creating room for others," he said. He confirmed media claims that the top of organised crime included highly-positioned politicians and military officials. "The recent offensive against the police as well as calls for resignations are the consequence of the anxiety of those circles because they can guess what we have discovered in the searches," he said. Ostojic confirmed that police raids had yielded evidence on the involvement in organised crime of many persons who had been suspected for some time, but their involvement could not be proven. He refused to say whether those persons, who are from the political scene, are linked with the former ruling party. (hina) sb rml