Arkan's former bodyguard shot dead

Arkan's former bodyguard shot dead

BELGRADE -- A shooting incident that took place in Belgrade before noon on Wednesday has left one person dead and two more injured.

The victim has been named as Rade Rakonjac, a former bodyguard of Željko Ražnatović Arkan, who was himself shot and killed in a Belgrade hotel in 2000.

Rakonjac, a native of Bijelo Polje in northern Montenegro, was also a close friend to another underworld figure, Luka Bojović.

Rakonjac was a former member of Ražnatović's Serb Volunteer Guard paramilitary group, and was detained during Operation Saber, launched in Serbia in the wake of the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić.

While Rakonjac was mentioned in Montenegrin and Serbian reports on organized crime groups, he was never convicted of a crime.

A burned car was found in Belgrade's Medak neighborhood on Wednesday, and according to reports, "two young men left the car before it was set on fire." It is now suspected that the vehicle was used in the attack against Rakonjac earlier in the day.