A man arrested on suspicion of sending the letter bomb that exploded at the Argentine Rural Society has been released without charge. Judge Daniel Rafecas ordered his release after establishing that the detained man was not the person caught on security footage sending the package.

A package addressed to Nicolás Pino, the president of the Argentine Rural Society, exploded as his secretary opened it on Thursday. She suffered bruising on her hand. Seven people who were in the room at the time were taken to the Fernández Hospital. Other than the secretary’s bruises, none were injured. The influential agricultural organization’s offices were evacuated.

A video of the explosion shows an office worker approach and lean on what looks like a reception desk just as Pamela Sousa, sitting alongside a colleague, opened the letter bomb. All three jump, with Sousa leaping away as a small fire erupts underneath the counter, and the office is engulfed in a cloud of white smoke. 

The 40-year-old man was arrested after his house was raided by the Buenos Aires Police, on the orders of judge Rafecas. He was accused of causing an explosion, premeditated injury and property damage. In his house, police found an old city map with a handwritten note marking the La Rural exhibition center, which is a few meters from the Rural Society’s offices.

The suspect was identified using security camera footage and SUBE card records. However, judge Rafecas verified the man that was arrested is not the same one shown in the footage.

The man was also able to prove he was taking a workshop for his job as realtor when the letter bomb was dropped off. The judge released him on Monday, two days after his arrest. He will remain part of the investigation until the judge decides to remove him from it.

The judiciary is still waiting for test results to establish what chemical was used for the explosion, and an assessment of the damage and injuries it caused.

Before the arrest, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said that “anarchists and vegan extremists” might have been behind the attack. However, the society’s leaders do not believe these groups were behind it.

“We have no theories because we really don’t know what happened,” Pino said on Friday afternoon. He added that he does not believe the letter bomb was related to his sympathy towards President Javier Milei.

Marcos Pereda, the society’s vice president, said that vegan activists would not carry out this kind of “intimidatory” attack. “I would rule them out as suspects, because they are activists that need to be visible to send a message,” he said earlier on Friday in an interview.