site.btaAuthorities Investigate Arson Attack on Bistritsa Mayor's Home

Authorities are actively working on the case involving the arson attack on the car and front door of the Mayor of Bistritsa village (near Sofia), Samuil Popov, the Interior Ministry told BTA on Monday. Active investigative measures are underway.

A report was received between 1:30 a.m. and 1:40 a.m. on Monday that the Mayor’s car had been set on fire and that the entrance door of his house had also been damaged, the Interior Ministry said.

Shortly after 1:30 a.m., something that sounded like an explosion was heard, Mayor Samuil Popov told Nova Television. "I saw that the car was on fire, and the front door had also been set ablaze," he said.

According to Popov, the arson was deliberate. He said he saw two individuals on a motorcycle, who were wearing masks. The house is equipped with surveillance cameras, but that did not deter them from carrying out the attack, he added. 

At the time of the incident, the Mayor, his wife and their four-year-old daughter were sleeping on the third floor of the house. On the ground floor live the Mayor’s nephew and the nephew’s mother. 
 
Speaking to Bulgarian National TV, the Mayor recalled that there had been another incident involving masked individuals at his office last July and did not rule out a connection between the two cases. "July 11, if I am not mistaken about the date, 2025. it is possible that there is a link between the two events," he said.

He noted that at the time he had raised a number of questions. 

"On July 11, both in writing and publicly, I asked where the money from municipal rents in the centre of the village was going. I never received an answer," he said.

According to Popov, he later formally requested information from the institutions concerned.

"Subsequently, I requested information from the Pancharevo district administration and from Sofia Municipality as to whether they were receiving rental payments. It became clear that such payments are being received, but there is an intermediary," he said.

He specified that since the summer he has not received any new threats. 

Regarding the perpetrators of the previous incident, the Mayor said that, to the best of his knowledge, they have not been identified.