Balgarianovinite.com A report released on the Ministry of Interior’s website on Tuesday specified that activities conducted by the NGO National Protected Areas Control Agency (NPACA) have triggered four alerts since the NGO was established in 2022. On February 2, 2026, the bodies of three NPACA members were found with gunshot wounds near a privately owned lodge at the Petrohan Pass. On February 8, three more bodies with gunshot wounds were found near Okolchitsa Peak.
The first report was filed by tourists on February 2, 2022, at the Berkovitsa Regional Police Station for alleged threats of physical violence made by five men who introduced themselves as Petrohan patrol rangers.
The second report was filed by then minister of environment and water Rositsa Karamfilova-Blagova, who notified the Ministry of Interior regarding a framework agreement dated February 8, 2022, between the Ministry of Environment and NGO. An earlier inspection had found discrepancies in the drafting of the document and had raised suspicions of unlawful exercise of control functions by the NGO in protected areas. The report was forwarded to the General Directorate National Police, and subsequently the materials were sent to the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office. The case file was not returned, as the actions were deemed lawful by the commission that prepared the report.
The third alert was raised by the grandparents of an 8-year-old boy and addressed to the State Agency for Child Protection with a copy to the Interior Ministry, the State Agency for National Security (SANS), and the prosecution service. The grandparents alleged that the boy’s behaviour was changed after he had been taken out of state school and enrolled in a private one. He was moved to live in the Petrohan lodge with people claiming to be rangers. The grandparents suspected that the boy might be in danger.
On November 19, 2023, a meeting between the grandfather and his grandson took place. It was also attended by one of the self-proclaimed rangers, who introduced himself as Ivaylo, as well as by two other boys aged 12 and 16 or 17. The grandson did not show any emotions during the meeting. Requests for new contacts were turned down by the mother, who did not share her parents’ worries. The child’s father reported that his son rarely went back home and also spent 14 days either in Nepal or in Tibet with the rangers.
On June 17, 2024, the grandparents contacted the same institutions with reports that their initial alert had been leaked to the rangers and to the boy’s mother. The following day, their other daughter called them to pressure them to withdraw their alert.
Following that latest alert, the Godech Regional Police Station and the Svoge Social Assistance Directorate conducted a joint inspection at the Petrohan lodge. The persons identified there claimed to be training junior rangers with the consent of their parents. No violations were found, and the prosecution service refused to initiate criminal proceedings. The same conclusion was reached by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office Sofia.
The fourth report was received by the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (GDCOC) in early 2022. Verbal reports were received about a religious group led by Ivaylo Kalushev (one of the men found dead near Okolchitsa Peak), who was alleged to have committed acts of sexual abuse against minors. An anonymous former member of the group (2010-2016) stated that as a minor, he had been involved in sexual acts, which he described as voluntary but carried out through manipulation. The informant suggested that similar acts had been committed against another boy as well. The archived case file contains no information about any operational search measures other than inquiries from institutions. In October 2024, a working meeting was held between SANS and the GDCOC regarding the available information, but the subsequent actions were not subject to the investigation. NGO Related to Six Violent Deaths Triggers Four Alerts since 2022 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-02-17 22:31:01 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law