Israeli Police requested on Monday that the court extend the arrest of the Chareidi mayor who was arrested on Sunday for alleged involvement in the disappearance of Avi Edri, z’l in 1990, by ten days.

According to a Kikar H’Shabbat report, the arrest of the mayor took him completely by surprise. He was a teenager at the time of the murder and is known to have been connected to Shuvu Banim during that period.

At the hearing, the judge demanded that the police representative provide proof of the suspect’s close connection to the case “in light of his public status and the damage to his reputation.”

The police representative submitted documents to the court and said that “from the evidence I presented, it can be understood that the defendant acted together with others in an operation that led to Edri’s murder, and he was also involved in Edri’s murder.”

The police representative added that the suspicion is that “the suspect was present during the murder,” adding that “at the time of the offense, the suspect was 17 years old.”

At the end of the hearing, the judge agreed to extend the mayor’s arrest for four days.

The mayor had denied any involvement in the case. The police representative said that “he did not provide his own version [of his actions], he just denied everything.”

The mayor was elected to his position through the public support of one of the main suspects in the case. However, the connection between the two was severed several years ago and they haven’t had any contact in recent times.

The mayor’s first-degree relative is married to Eliezer Berland’s daughter, according to a Channel 13 News report.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)