The Greek Cypriot man who was arrested on suspicion of having stolen two caravans in the north was admitted to intensive care after falling ill, it was revealed on Thursday.
The man, reportedly aged 60, was arrested on August 8, and most recently appeared in court on Monday.
His latest hearing, held on Thursday upon the expiry of a three-day remand, was held in absentia, with the police representative in court explaining that the man had fallen in on Wednesday and been taken to intensive care.
The representative explained that the police believe his most recent theft took place at around 5.40am on August 6, when he stole a caravan which had been parked off the central Belediye boulevard in Kioneli’s Yenikent suburb.
The police had later found the caravan near Louroujina. It belonged to a resident of Famagusta and had been parked in Yenikent for weeks prior to its theft.
The representative then said that investigations had led police to believe that the same man was responsible for the theft of another caravan, which had been parked next to the King Autos used car showroom off the dual carriageway linking Morphou and Famagusta.
That caravan had been stolen at around 6am on April 13 and has not yet been found.
Additionally, the representative said that police believe the man had entered the north illegally near Louroujina rather than use a crossing point.
For this, he had been taken to military court on August 9 for the crime of violating a military controlled area, as is customary for all those who enter the north from the Republic without using crossing points.
During that hearing, police said they had found 103 cartons of cigarettes, seven cartons of rolling tobacco, one carton of hookah tobacco, and 25 cartons of tobacco sticks for electronic cigarettes, all of which had been smuggled to the north from the Republic.
However, no mention of tobacco products was made at Thursday’s hearing.
With the police’s investigation into the matter still ongoing, and one of the two caravans still having not yet been found, judge Nuray Necdet ordered that the man’s remand be extended for another eight days.
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