Prosecutors question suspects in Zadar area fires

Four people arrested on Saturday evening on suspicion of starting multiple fires in the Zadar area were questioned by prosecutors in Zadar on Monday afternoon. 

They later appeared before an investigating judge, who ordered that they be remanded in investigative custody.

Three of the suspects are Croatian nationals - men aged 46, 45, and 42. The fourth is a 33-year-old Polish woman.

Police located and arrested the suspects after receiving a tip that a group had been seen starting a fire near a road in the Benkovac area.

Investigators said the four suspects had allegedly carried out a plan to start fires at ten locations across Zadar County over the weekend. They are accused of deliberately setting the fires with the intention of endangering people and property.

The fires were reported in Zadar's Bili Brig neighborhood and in the villages of Zemunik Donji, Galovac, Biljani, Zapužan, Zemunik, Zagrada, Lišani Tinjski, and Škabrnja, as well as in the town of Benkovac.

The fires destroyed a vehicle and an olive grove. Firefighters, assisted by aircraft, managed to extinguish all of the blazes.

Police are continuing to gather evidence. They searched the suspects' homes and vehicles and seized a semiautomatic rifle, a pistol, and several mobile phones.

The evidence has been handed over to prosecutors in Zadar, who have yet to determine the charges the suspects will face.