The head of Italy's tax collection agency was wounded in the hand and face by a letter bomb on Friday, two days after Italian anarchists claimed responsibility for a bomb sent to the head of Deutsche Bank. Equitalia's director general Marco Cuccagna detonated the device when he opened a letter at the agency's headquarters in Rome and has been hospitalised.
"Cuccagna has undergone an operation. He was injured to the hand and face after the explosion blew up his glass desk" Equitalia executive Angelo Coco said. "We believe Equitalia has been the victim recently of a denigration and disinformation campaign," he said. Prosecutors said they were launching an inquiry for suspected terrorism and were looking into a possible anarchist link.
A police spokesman said that the letter bomb had arrived by regular post. Prime Minister Mario Monti issued a statement expressing "solidarity" and defending the activities of Equitalia at a time his government is proposing a series of painful tax increases and pension reforms. "Equitalia has always carried out and is continuing to carry out its duty in full respect of the law," Monti said.
"It is essential for the functioning of the state, without which it would be impossible to provide services to citizens," he added. Equitalia has become widely unpopular in a country where tax evasion is rampant but has also been accused of making mistakes with regular taxpayers.
"We are very worried about this morning's attack on Equitalia," said Emanuele Fiano, a lawmaker from the centre-left Democratic Party. "We cannot be indifferent to the fact that this has happened at a time of extraordinary social problems for the country," he said. "It is fundamental that democratic institutions are preserved, and protest and dissent are contained in a civil and peaceful confrontation," he added. Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno said: "There is someone who wants to exploit in a terroristic way the sacrifices that Italy has to make to get out of the crisis."