While Bulgaria is still in shock from the discovery of six bodies in the area of the "Petrohan" hut and Okolchitsa peak, the civil association BOETS has dropped a "bomb" into the public space with suspicions of a heavy institutional umbrella. The organization has published a list of 11 uncomfortable questions to the Ministry of Interior and SANS, which cast doubt on the official version of an "isolated sect" and hint at connections between the special services and Ivaylo Kalushev's group.
The main emphasis in the questioning is the fate of the key witness Deyan Iliev and the mysterious absence of Interior Minister Daniel Mitov from the public sphere.
According to information from BOETS, Deyan Iliev is the person who first came across the sinister find and reported the fire and the murders on February 2. However, the association warns that the connection with him and his wife has been severed.
"Where is the witness Deyan Iliev? If his whereabouts are unknown, has he been declared wanted by the Ministry of Interior? And if he is not wanted - why?" – the organization asks.
The question is key because it raises two hypotheses: either the Ministry of Interior has placed the witness under protection without notifying (which is a standard, but uncommunicated procedure), or there really is a breach in the security of the most important eyewitness. The lack of an official comment from the interior ministry only fuels speculation.
The most scandalous statement in BOEC's position concerns the role of counterintelligence. The organization claims that SANS had a "relationship" with individuals from Petrokhan's group for 14 years. This raises the question of whether the agency was merely monitoring their radicalization, or is it about something more.
BOEC directly asks: "Is there operational data in the National Security Agency of Bulgaria about an organized trafficking channel across the Bulgarian-Serbian border in the Petrohan region and was this channel under the control of the agency?"
This version contradicts the narrative convenient for the authorities about crazy fanatics who killed themselves. If it is proven that the hut was used for cross-border trafficking under the watchful eye of the services, the scandal will go beyond the criminal chronicle and will turn into a state crisis.
The tension is also intensified by the behavior of the political leadership. BOEC uses the rhetorical device of "search" to emphasize the absence of Interior Minister Daniel Mitov, who did not appear in parliament between February 11 and 13.
The organization insists on bringing charges against Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov, as well as against senior police chiefs, for "inaction that led to the death of six people." Their thesis is that the institutions had enough signals over the years to prevent the bloodbath, but chose not to intervene.
We recall that the bodies were discovered in early February, and the investigation has not yet given a definitive answer whether this was just an internal conflict within the group, or there was external interference.