A man widely named as Stakeknife, the British Army’s notorious IRA agent, is said to have been arrested.
A team of independent British detectives investigating claims of murder, kidnap and torture detained a 72-year-old man at an undisclosed location yesterday, police said.
The arrested man is believed to be Freddie Scappaticci, from west Belfast, who was named as the agent in 2003 but has always strongly denied the allegation.
Jon Boutcher, chief constable of Bedfordshire police, is leading the Operation Kenova inquiry into Stakeknife. The high-ranking army mole allegedly led the IRA’s “nutting squad”, an internal security unit that brutally interrogated and murdered suspected spies during the Troubles. Dozens of detectives are examining more than 50 potential murders.
The police statement confirmed that the 72-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of a number of offences relating to Operation Kenova’s investigation.
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The detectives began investigating after Barra McGrory, QC, the former director of public prosecutions in Northern Ireland, referred multiple allegations to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
The PSNI decided to call in officers from outside Northern Ireland.
The police statement added: “Operation Kenova is a complex and wide-ranging investigation which was launched in June 2016 to investigate allegations of murder, kidnap and torture dating back to the 1970s.
“So far the team has engaged with more than 40 families and processed more than 500,000 pages of information generating 1,500 lines of inquiry.”
The team involves almost 50 detectives. As well as multiple murders, they are examining evidence of other alleged offences committed by Stakeknife during the Troubles, including attempted murders and unlawful imprisonments.