It was January 4, 1991, around 10 pm, when one of the most terrible tragedies in the recent history of the country took place in the Pilastro district of Bologna: a patrol of the Carabinieri was killed by bullets of the criminal group then known as " Band of the White One ".

Now, in a letter born on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the massacre, the relatives of the killed soldiers are calling for a reopening of the investigation even more forcefully.

"In January of last year - they explain - the Public Prosecutor of Bologna formed an information file to reopen the investigations on the Banda della Uno Bianca, entrusting them to the Digos of the Bologna Police Headquarters and from which we await the outcome. A decision taken after a report of the carabinieri aimed at clarifying some aspects of a telephone interception that involved the family of the super witness Simonetta Bersani, an investigation that we hope will bring results ".

"We are increasingly the families of the victims to ask for the truth through the complete reopening of the investigations - continues the letter - not only for the massacre of the Pillar. A contribution in this direction could also come from the digitization of the documents on the Banda della Uno Bianca , requested by the Association of the relatives of the Victims and launched last October ", add the relatives of Otello Stefanini, Andrea Moneta and Mauro Mitilini.

The massacre of the Pillar, according to the relatives of Stefanini, Mitilini and Moneta, "recalled the massacres of the past, one of the cruelest actions of the so-called Banda della Uno bianco and on which so many shadows still linger".

Among the points underlined and to be explored is the "why the carabinieri had moved to via Casini, where they were murdered, while they should have been stationed at the former Romagnoli schools, as required by a detailed order of the Bologna police 'fixed supervision' ". "Another mystery" was represented by "the disappearance of the patrol service sheet where, among other things, the modalities of the service to be performed were reported". Then, "the identity of that mysterious fourth man is still unknown, whom several witnesses saw the killers being taken, after the massacre, aboard an Alfa 33". Therefore "doubts remain both about the motive and the modalities of the assassination, starting from the engagement until the completion of the massacre: the killers after having seriously injured the three carabinieri, did not go away but carried out the massacre with an impressive rain of fire".

Furthermore "they had with them some kerosene with which, immediately afterwards, they set the car on fire to erase the tracks. Evidently in January 1991 three young carabinieri were to die".

THE FACTS - On January 4, 1991, around 10 pm, the gang was at the Pilastro by chance, heading to San Lazzaro di Savena in search of a car to steal. At the height of the Towers, in via Casini, the gang's car was overtaken by the carabinieri patrol and the maneuver was interpreted by the criminals as an attempt to register license plates. After having flanked the carabinieri, Roberto Savi exploded some bullets, on the side of the driver Otello Stefanini. Despite the serious injuries sustained, the soldier tried to escape, but ran into rubbish bins. In a short time the Carabinieri car was hit by a shower of bullets. The other two soldiers, Andrea Moneta and Mauro Mitilini, managed to get out of the cockpit and return fire, injuring Roberto Savi among other things. The power of the weapons used by the gang, however, left no hope and both soldiers fell wounded on the asphalt. The three were then finished with a blow to the back of the head.

(Unioneonline / vl)

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