Police arrest two teens for plotting terrorist attack in Telegram chat

The police arrested a 16-year-old boy from Eindhoven on May 4 for planning a terrorist attack in a chat group on Telegram. The boy is still in custody. On Tuesday, the police also arrested a 19-year-old man from Deventer in this same case, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed to Eindhovens Dagblad.

According to the OM, the Dutch suspects spoke with a suspect from Belgium about planning terrorist attacks in Belgium. They were “serious conversations,” the OM spokesperson said to the newspaper. The Eindhoven teenager had not yet had physical contact with the other suspects or purchased items for an attack. “We suspect him of preparing a terrorist crime.”

The Dutch suspects’ arrests are linked with a larger case in Belgium. On May 4, the day the Eindhoven teen got arrested, Belgian authorities arrested seven suspects in their twenties in various parts of Flanders. They are suspected of planning attacks in Belgium. One of these suspects is the Belgian man who contacted the Dutch suspects via Telegram.

According to the Belgian authorities, the group of suspects radicalized in a short time. They were looking for weapons and discussed different scenarios for attacks in Belgium, though they did not seem to have a target in mind, the authorities said.

The OM would not give Eindhovens Dagblad details on the case. The investigation is still ongoing, and the Deventer suspect still has to be arraigned on Friday. The Eindhoven teen was remanded into custody for 30 days on May 17.