One of the three men arrested over the death of Slavi Binev has been charged with intentional murder, Sofia City Prosecutor's Office spokesman Nikolay Nikolaev said. Prosecutors have asked the Sofia City Court to keep the accused in custody on a permanent basis.

Binev was shot in the face in Sofia at around 10:00 am on Saturday. That same day, Lyubomir Nikolov, acting chief secretary of the Interior Ministry, told a briefing that the three men were arrested near the Trayanovi Vrata tunnel, at the 54km mark of the Trakia motorway. One of them has a Bulgarian ID card. The other two have Turkish names.

The background: Three people detained over killing of Slavi Binev in Sofia

The accused has been detained for up to 72 hours. Prosecutors say one man fired the shots and acted alone, so only he is charged. The other two have no charges for now because there is not enough evidence.

The motive is still being established, Nikolaev said. "We can say for certain that the two knew each other well and had business dealings," he added.

Police have also found the pistol believed to have been used in the killing. Nikolov said officers found two weapons. One was thrown from the car shortly before it was stopped. The other was in a small bag belonging to one of the detainees. Early information is that the second weapon is legally owned.