Explosives found in suspicious package at Heerlen city hall

A suspicious package delivered to the Heerlen town hall on December 21st contained explosive TNT, lawyer Sjanneke de Crom confirmed on behalf of the suspect she represents. The letter bomb was addressed to Heerlen mayor Ralf Kerwinkel. It ad no detonater, but did contain demands that the mayor pay 1 million euros or a bomb would go off at a later date, AD reports.

On December 22nd the police arrested a 45-year-old man from Heerlen in connection wit the package. He was released again five days later, but remains a suspect. As a suspect he has access to the case file, which he published on his website on Thursday, De Crom said to the newspaper.

The police file shows that the mayor was instructed to first pay a thousand bitcoins to a specific account. Then he'd have 72 hours to drop a million euros at a location that would be agreed upon later. If the mayor refused, an explosion would be triggered at an unspecified date and time, the letter said.

The Public Prosecutor would not comment on the matter. "The investigation continues", was all a spokesperson would say to the newspaper.