BRUSSELS –  Police have begun a search for the body of a gang member who led a killing spree in Belgian supermarkets nearly 20 years ago.

Officers began digging in woods near Ronquieres, 30 km south of Brussels, after a tip-off that a gang member, possibly its leader, was buried there.

The mysterious gang carried out a series of violent hold-ups in supermarkets which led to the deaths of 28 people in the central Belgian province of Brabant between 1982 and 1985.

An informer told investigators that one of the gang was buried in the woods after being fatally injured in a shoot-out with the police during the last hold-up on 9 November 1985.

This last incident left eight people dead.

The police launched their latest investigation when a witness reported suspicious activity in the woods a few hours after the crime.

[Copyright Expatica 2004]

Subject: Belgian news