Man kidnapped and wired to bomb

Stockholm was still coming to terms with a mysterious kidnapping and bomb drama yesterday that emptied a large area of the Swedish capital.

Police had evacuated buildings and blocked off streets in the northern Stockholm suburb of Tensta on Sunday after a man claiming he was strapped up with explosives was spotted by residents standing in the middle of a car park.

Police were able to surround the man, who was seated on the ground wearing what he said was a remote-controlled bomb.

The 29-year-old unidentified Norwegian man told the police he had been held hostage for three days in a nearby apartment but had managed to escape. He was reportedly in tears as he told police that the remote-controlled explosive belt (a black box with wires coming out) fixed to his waist could blow up at any moment. He ended up sitting still for six hours. That was until bomb experts could remove what they confirmed, using X-rays, was an explosive device.

The man was taken to the hospital and appeared to have been maltreated during his abduction.

The suspect, who was recently released from prison and has a history of drug-related offences, could have been the target of a revenge over a drug deal, according to police sources.

A man in his thirties has been arrested for kidnapping, and two other men were being sought by police.