A man accused of poisoning jars of baby food with rat poison in a bid to extort money was caught by police in Austria yesterday, officials said.
The 39-year-old suspect was detained in the state of Burgenland, south of Vienna, police told the APA news agency. They did not give his name or specify where exactly he was arrested.
He was charged with attempted grievous bodily harm and endangering the public.
The arrest follows the discovery of rat poison in jars of baby food sold at various stores in Austria two weeks ago. The jars were produced by the German company HiPP and the case implicated the German police.
Five jars were recovered in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia before being consumed over the next few days.
The crime was committed for extortion purposes against the corporation, which announced a product recall in Austria, police said.
One of the fake jars was purchased at a Spar supermarket in the state of Burgenland in the city of Eisenstadt. It was determined to contain 15 microgrammes of rat poison.
A second jar, also sold in the same store, is thought to have been laced with poison but has not yet been recovered.
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