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Three more suspects have been taken into custody in the Boston Marathon bombings, city police said in a surprising development Wednesday.

The Boston Police made the announcement in a tweet this morning.

Offering no details, they said more would soon follow. Police spokeswoman Cheryl Fiandaca confirmed the tweet but referred all questions to the FBI.

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Three people were killed and more than 260 injured on April 15.

Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a gunfight with police three days later. His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was captured and is in a hospital prison.

It was widely believed that the brothers acted alone in plotting and carrying out the terrorist attack, so the basis for the new arrests should be very interesting.

Story developing

UPDATE: Prosecutors say Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, and Azamat Tazbayakov, 19, tried to conceal and destroy a laptop and fireworks belonging to Tsarnaev.

 

Dzhokhar was a friend from UMass-Dartmouth where they were all students at one time. They were charged with alleged conspiracy to obstruct justice.

A third man, Robel Phillipos, 19, was accused of lying to law enforcement officials who questioned him about the Boston Marathon bombing.

Kadyrbayev and Tazbayakov live in New Bedford, but are originally from Kazakhstan. They were already accused of violating the terms of their student visas.

Phillipos is from Cambridge, the same city where Tsarnaev grew up and attended UMass-Dartmouth with the others. All three are in custody now.

“Please be advised that there is not a threat to public safety,” Boston Police said in a statement. “There is no additional info to release at this time.”

“Additional details will be provided when they become available.”

An FBI agent’s affidavit explained how Tsarnaev’s three friends discovered his alleged role in the Boston bombing and the steps they took to conceal it.

Phillipos called Kadyrbayev to say that Tsarnaev resembled one of the suspects in the photos released by the FBI on April 18, the affidavit said.

Kadyrbayev sent text messages to Tsarnaev joking about the physical similarities. Tsarnaev wrote back saying “lol” and “you better not text me.”

The three friends met in Tsarnaev’s dorm room that night even though he wasn’t there. While watching a movie, they noticed a backpack containing fireworks.

The explosives had been emptied of the explosive powder.

“Kadyrbayev knew when he saw the empty fireworks that Tsarnaev was involved in the Marathon bombing,” Agent Scott Cieplik swore in his affidavit.

At that point, officials believe, Kadyrbayev “decided to remove the backpack from the room in order to help his friend Tsarnaev avoid trouble.”

He also took Tsarnaev’s laptop, because he thought it would appear less suspicious to Tsarnaev’s roommate, who was also in the dorm room.

Tzahayakov told authorities that the friends also took a jar of Vaseline, which they believed might have been used to produce bombs as well.

Kadyrbayev allegedly told investigators he threw the computer and backpack in the garbage after Tazhayakov and Philipos agreed they should protect Tsarnaev.

Tazahayakov told authorities that Tsarnaev gave him a ride home from class April 17.

Authorities claim he said that Kadyrbayev showed him a text message the next day that indicated Dzhokhar Tsarnaev would try to flee the area.

“I’m about to leave if you need something in my room take it,” the text allegedly said.

“When Tazhayakov learned of this message, he believed he would never see Tsarnaev alive again,” the affidavit regarding the new arrests said..

Gov. Deval Patrick said he was informed Wednesday that the three new suspects had no role in the actual bombing, but became involved afterward.