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ROME: Italian police have arrested businessman Valter Lavitola, naming him as the mastermind behind an October bomb attack targeting prominent television journalist Sigfrido Ranucci outside his Rome home.
Lavitola, a former associate of late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, allegedly instructed an intermediary to recruit four men to procure explosives and carry out the attack at the anchor's villa.
Investigators revealed a bizarre motive, claiming Lavitola staged the explosion believing it would raise Ranucci’s public profile for a potential career in politics, completely without the journalist's knowledge.
Ranucci, the star host of Rai’s investigative program Report, was unharmed in the blast, which damaged two vehicles and a gate outside his property.
The arrest marks a dramatic twist in the case, connecting to Lavitola's past criminal history, which includes a 2015 senator bribery conviction alongside Berlusconi.
