Police are carrying out an investigation as to why a hired contract worker was guarding the Swedish fugitive who escaped while under police guard, it emerged on Tuesday.

The contractors are tasked with dealing with migrant flows, prompting questions as to how the individual was tasked with guarding a fugitive, wanted for financial crime charges amounting to some €90 million.

According to a report in Philenews police chief Themistos Arnaoutis was furious when he heard the news and the fact that a police officer was suspended along with the contractor suggested the former may have been at fault for assigning the latter to the case.

Spokeswoman for the force Kyriaki Lambrianidou told the paper an investigation is underway to decipher how the contractor ended up carrying out those duties.

On Sunday, 49-year-old Hans Jonny Uven escaped police custody while he was being treated at a private Larnaca clinic.

He was eventually arrested on Monday after being found on the 5th floor of a building under construction in the centre of Larnaca at around 2pm.

On Tuesday he was remanded in custody for seven days.