Police Said to Miss Planting of Bomb That Killed Banker
The remote-control bomb that killed the head of West Germany’s largest bank was planted under the noses of a police surveillance team, a published report said Saturday.
The daily newspaper Koelnische Runschau criticized police for failing to notice the suspects setting up the explosive device near the home of Alfred Herrhausen. The chief executive of the Deutsche Bank, West German’s leading bank, was killed by the bomb Thursday.
But a spokesman for the Federal Criminal Department rejected claims that the suspected leftist terrorists who carried out the attack got away because police bungled the investigation.
He said police are following up more than 600 clues but gave no additional details of investigations.
Herrhausen, 59, was killed by the remote-control bomb that blew up his armor-plated BMW as he was driving to his Frankfurt office from his home just outside the city.
Koelnische Runschau said that although the route was under constant surveillance by a crack police team, the officers failed to notice terrorists setting up the sophisticated explosive device and burying under a sidewalk a cable that controlled the bomb.
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