Sint-Jans-Molenbeek

French authorities are scrambling to find Abdesalam Salah, who is believed to have taken part in the Paris attacks. French police reportedly questioned Salah just hours after the deadly rampage, only to let him go. Belgium’s RTL reported on Monday that Salah had been captured after a huge manhunt, however the report was refuted by RTBL that cited sources from the Belgium prosecutor’s office.

Belgian public broadcaster RTBF said on Nov. 16 that police had detained a person during a raid in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, but that it was not wanted Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam.

Earlier, broadcaster RTL said Abdeslam, a Frenchman wanted in connection with the Paris attacks, had been arrested. 

Officials were not immediately available for comment.

Belgian media named Abdel Hamid Abaaoud, a returning Syrian jihadi, as the mastermind of the Paris attacks. Belgian newspaper, Le Soir, cited Belgian sources to outline the role of Abaaoud, a grocer’s son from the Belgian town of Molenbeek, as the radical extremist who was the brains behind the attack.

French authorities have launched raids across France as the country.