Friends of Boston Bombing Suspect Held

Three college friends of the Boston bombing suspect have been charged for interfering with investigation of the attacks, police say.

Azamat Tazhayakov, Dias Kadyrbayev and Robel Philippos, all aged 19, appeared in court on Wednesday having been accused of removing a backpack containing fireworks from Dzokhar Tsarnaev’s room three days after the bombing.

Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev are charged with destroying evidence and Philippos is charged with making false statements to authorities.

Authorities claim the men agreed to throw away the backpack containing materials used in the bombing after confirming Tsarnaev’s involvement in the blasts near the marathon finish line.

According to court affidavit, Kadyrbayev texted Tsarnaev to say that he resembled the suspect shown in news reports released by the FBI.

Still via text message, Tsarnaev responded with “lol” and “you better not text me”.

The affidavit also states the men decided to get rid of the backpack and the fireworks because “they did not want Tsarnaev to get into trouble”. Investigators say they later found the backpack in a landfill.

According to reports from the FBI all three men have been attending the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth with Tsarnaev since 2011.

The Boston Marathon blasts killed three people and injured hundreds. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in the police manhunt, leaving his 19-year-old brother the only surviving suspect of the bombings.

Source: news.sky.com, bbc.co.uk, cnn.com