Turkish Cypriot police deny involvement in murder suspects’ kidnapping (Updated)

The Turkish Cypriot police on Friday denied any involvement in the kidnapping in the Republic of two men who are suspected of murder.

On Wednesday, police in the Republic had arrested three men regarding “a case of abduction with the purpose of secret and unjust imprisonment”.

They had later confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that the three were arrested on suspicion that they abducted “the two victims [who] … appear to be the same people who are suspected of having committed a murder in northern Nicosia in December.”

The trio had found and captured the two murder suspects in the Republic before taking them to Pyla, where they were handed over to the Turkish Cypriot police.

The Turkish Cypriot police deny any involvement in the planning or execution of the kidnapping, saying that no one affiliated to the Turkish Cypriot police left the north.

They said they were tipped off that the two murder suspects “may violate the border again and attempt to escape the island via the TRNC”, and that it was for that reason that they were waiting in Pyla.

They added that the suspects were “captured in a healthy way”.

“No one touched or violated the borders of South Cyprus except for the suspects,” they said.

They said, “attempts were made to create negative perceptions in the eyes of society by overshadowing the successful actions of the TRNC police within the framework of legal limits and legislation with unfounded allegations.”

“No money and no other promises were made to anyone by any official of the TRNC police,” they added.

Meanwhile, the two murderers appeared in court in northern Nicosia on Friday, with police telling the court that the pair had given voluntary confessions. They added that one of them had “described the murder and robbery in detail” to them.

Additionally, they said the pair had been checked by doctors and that they will also be examined at the Baris mental and neurological diseases hospital.

The second suspect told the court he wanted a lawyer but had no money, while the first confessed to the murder and asked to speak to his family.

As judge Zehra Yalkut Bilgec was about to read out her remand order, the first suspect fainted.

After he was brought around, the pair were both remanded in custody for seven days.

Ayca Alav was found dead at the Hit Bit suitcase shop in north Nicosia, which she owned, on December 22.

At an earlier court hearing of two men who helped the murder suspects escape to the Republic, police inspector Huseyin Zaifer said the pair who committed the murder accosted Alev at the Hit Bit shop and tied her hands and feet behind her back with a seatbelt and an antenna cable.

Then, he said, they covered her face with duct tape, killing her.

After having killed her, the pair made their way to the bureau de change Alav owned, which is located near the Kyrenia gate, from where they stole an “undetermined amount” of cash.