Austrian police detained a 39-year-old man in connection with an attempted blackmail case involving rat poison placed in jars of baby food produced by the German brand HiPP, a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office in Eisenstadt told Germany’s dpa news agency on Saturday.
The suspect was arrested in the southern Austrian state of Burgenland, APA news agency quoted police as saying.
Earlier, Austrian tabloid newspaper taj newspaper It was reported that the suspect was arrested in the state of Hamburg, bordering Germany.
The prosecutor’s office has confirmed that the suspect has been detained in Austria. Their identities have not been disclosed for strategic reasons related to the ongoing investigation. Police have said that he is currently being interrogated.
What do we know about the case?
According to officials, an unidentified person attempted to extort money from HiPP by contaminating its products with rat poison.
Last month, five “tampered” jars of HyPP baby food were safely recovered in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, before they could be eaten. HiPP recalled one product in Austria.
German police became involved in the case because the jars were manufactured by a German company.
In Austria, investigators found a total of 15 micrograms of rat poison in a seized 190 gram jar of “carrots with potatoes”. The jar was purchased at a Spar supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt in the state of Burgenland. The exact nature of the poison has not been disclosed.
A search is currently underway in Austria for a second potentially poisonous jar. According to the company, the German product range was not affected.
Blackmailer reportedly demanded €2 million
Immediately after the matter came to light, the Austrian newspaper… Press An email was reportedly sent to HiPP in March demanding €2 million ($2.3 million) within six days, but the company ignored it until two weeks after the deadline passed.
The company later said that the email was sent to a group address that was not checked frequently.
HiPP is a family-run company founded over 120 years ago in Bavaria, Germany. The company’s German headquarters and main production facility are located in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm in the Upper Bavaria region. However, the parent company HiPP Holding AG is based in Saxelon, Switzerland.
Edited by: Sam Dusan Inayatullah