Cold case: the Nijvel Gang

Over the past decades, there is one case that captures the interest of most Belgians: the bloody raids of the Bende van Nijvel (the Nijvel Gang). It all happened in the 80's of the past century. A group of armed 'robbers' raided supermarkets and not so much were after money, but killed lots of people. The last raid was that of the Delhaize supermarket in Aalst, where some 28 innocents were gunned down.

The whole country was in shock after these happenings - but not much happened. The DA of Dendermonde, Freddy Troch, ran the investigation. However, after some time the investigation was taken away from him and moved to another DA, in French-speaking Belgium. After that, nothing was heard. They never caught the culprits...

No wonder, tongues started to wag after some time, whispering of conspiration  theories, of protecting people in high places.What's the truth? Nobody knows for sure. Personally, my sister and I had a conversation with a politician who claimed (after some drinks) he knew the truth behind this case.  But he never disclosed any data. Was he threatened? He had a wife and two young sons.

Right now, the case has again caught attention. On his deathbed, one of the raiders told his brother he was a member of the infamous gang. By now they know his name - he was a member of the state police in Dendermonde. It's also been found out now that his name has been in the documents for ages. Nobody cared to look into the info given by someone who claimed to recognize the person in the robot picture.

I don't think this case will ever be solved. It must indeed go high up, into the ranks of high military, or government. Some even whisper into the royal family.

For those who've been watching Salamander on Netflix, well that's more or like this cold case. They only lack a Paul Gerardi to solve it!