Wave of arrests continues: third senior member of Atra Kadisha interrogated

The police chase after Atra Kadisha continues: on Monday, Chaim Toisig, a senior member of the organization was arrested in Beit Shemesh, after turning himself in. His wife was also summoned to investigation but has not yet showed up.

Toisig's acquaintances say that his wife will not show up for investigation unless she receives an order which obligates her to.

Meanwhile, in Meah Shearim they are planning a large demonstration against Toisig's arrest. On Tuesday a demonstration took place of the Atra Kadisha activists in front of the Israeli consulate building in Manhattan.

Six days ago, before dawn, Chezki Kalmanowitz, who is known as the strong man in the organization and the right-hand man of the chairman, Hagr"d Shmidl, and Yehoshua Altman, who is considered one of the well known and senior supervisors in the organization, were arrested in Beit Shemesh. The two were suspected of an attempt to steal bones from an archeological site in Beit Shemesh a month earlier.

As published in Behadrey Hareidm, with Kalmanowitz and Altman's arrest, the police arrived at Chaim Toisig's home too, but he was not home. Today he was arrested and taken to 'Migrash Harusim' police station where he was interrogated.

The other detainees - Yehoshua Altman was released home after a few hours under restraining conditions, Chezki Kalmanowitz was released for home arrest after three days of arrest, under bail of 50,000 NIS.

An investigating team of the Jerusalem police arrived on Sunday afternoon at Chezki Kalmanowitz's home in Beit Shemesh, in order to ascertain that he is indeed under house arrest, as the court instructed, and most probably also to search his home. At Atra Kadisha they are enraged mainly about the court's decision according to which Kalmanowitz has been distanced for 60 days from archeological sites.

Since the senior members of the organization have been arrested, protest demonstrations have been held in Kikar Hashabbat, during which 8 demonstrators were arrested, but were consequently released until Friday; the police are planning to give in indictments against some of them.

The Jerusalem Police spokesman, Shmulik Ben Rubi, responded to Behadrey Haredim that the suspect turned himself in for investigation, after policemen visited his home yesterday, and summoned him for investigation. The suspect is being interrogated regarding the theft of bones from an archeological site in Beit Shemesh.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!