Suspect arrested in EU for crimes committed in Nicosia in May

A 25-year-old from Nicosia was arrested in the early hours of Saturday after he had been sought since May following his return to the island from an unnamed European country, where he had been arrested on the basis of a European arrest warrant.

He was wanted for a case of conspiracy to commit a felony, kidnap, threat, assault with actual bodily harm, robbery, burglary and claiming property by threats.

The police said he was located in an EU country and arrested, and then transferred to Cyprus where at dawn on Saturday he was re-arrested with a judicial warrant pending against him.

According to the evidence under investigation, a 67-year-old man reported to police that at around 2pm on April 25, 2022, a man unknown to him visited his house in the Nicosia district, tricked his way in and then under the threat of a knife demanded money.

The suspect then reportedly took the 67-year-old’s car and drove him to a flat he owns in Strovolos, where he threatened him and got him to hand over money and gold. The younger man then took the older one to several banks in Nicosia where he took money out of the ATM and handed it over.

While driving, the suspect reportedly picked up a second man and after they went to an area of Nicosia, they abandoned him and fled on foot.