Man arrested for torching policeman’s car (Updated)

Paphos police announced on Friday the arrest of a man in connection with the torching of a police officer’s car.

The man, aged 43 and from Limassol, was arrested on Thursday afternoon. He denies any involvement in the incident.

Meanwhile, Paphos police are continuing their efforts to identify the people who set a public prosecutor’s car on fire, the town’s assistant police director of operations Michalis Nikolaou said earlier in the day.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) he said the police are focusing their investigations on people who have had previous legal cases handled by the prosecutor in question.

He added that at present, police are trawling through footage taken by local petrol stations’ CCTV cameras in the hope of finding clues.

He also confirmed reports that Thursday’s prison raid in Nicosia had been carried out within the scope of gathering more information on the torching of the prosecutor’s car, as well as regarding other similar events which took place in Paphos, including the car arson for which the 43-year-old from Limassol was arrested.

In addition, he said a “large-scale operation” was carried out by Paphos’ traffic police overnight, with 92 vehicles in the district having been stopped and searched between 7pm on Thursday and 2am on Friday. The searches resulted in four vehicles being seized.

He added that these activities will be “intensified” in the coming days, “with the aim of strengthening people’s sense of security.”