The main suspect in a weekend explosion that maimed a guard on the set of the “Dom-2” reality television show is a wannabe contestant who claimed that he was roughed up by the guards, media reports said Monday.
But the Moscow region’s branch of the Investigative Committee said a probe was ongoing and no charges have been filed, Interfax reported.
A bomb went off when private security guards removed for inspection a backpack lodged in a fence surrounding the site of the show in the Moscow region, the report said. The blast tore off the arm of one of the guards, Sergei Tere, who remained in intensive care Monday. A second guard escaped with minor injuries.
The explosion was loud enough to wake up show contestants, former “Dom-2” star Viktoria Bonya told The Moscow Times by telephone, adding that they were “shocked” when they learned about the bomb.
The show was suspended for several hours following the blast but then resumed with beefed-up security, “Dom-2” broadcaster TNT said in e-mailed comments. During the delay, police found and disarmed a second, much more powerful homemade bomb on the premises, Gazeta.ru said.
News web site Lifenews.ru said police suspected Sergei Lyapin, a 39-year-old resident of the Siberian city of Novokuznetsk, of planting the bombs.
Lyapin, who has a criminal record, applied twice to participate in “Dom-2,” which has aired since 2004 and has made “The Guinness Book of Records” as the world’s longest-running reality show, a Novokuznetsk police source told Interfax. He failed the casting call both times.
Lifenews.ru said Lyapin might have sought revenge for not making the show. But Gazeta.ru said he told police that he had been beaten by “Dom-2” guards but police ignored his complaints, possibly because he did not document the attack by seeking medical assistance.
Lyapin was detained Sunday in a town near the “Dom-2” set, Lifenews.ru said.
The perpetrator of the blast may face charges of intentionally inflicting grave bodily harm, punishable with up to eight years in prison.