The 51-year-old from Greece arrested in connection with the gunning down of Stavros Demosthenous 500m from his home in Limassol was sighted in the area in a stolen car a few days before the assassination, the court heard on Monday.

The suspect and a 44-year-old Greek Cypriot – a former footballer – who owned the motorcycle allegedly used as a getaway vehicle after the murder, where both taken before the Limassol district court, the former for a remand order and the latter for the renewal of an exiting remand order.

According to the Reporter website, the two suspects are not the people who were in the van who ambushed Demosthenous’ car, as the most likely scenario is that the killers were assassins from abroad.

The motorcycle was found on October 18 – a day after the murder – in Ayios Tychonas, hidden behind some trees. It had been declared immobilised since January 31 this year and had not been reported as stolen. The 44-year-old said he had “no idea” about the murder.

Meanwhile, two more arrest warrants have been issued.

The court heard that on October 5 – 12 days before the murder – a man reported that his Mitsubishi Colt car had been stolen from where it was parked in Ayios Antonios area.

Three days before the shooting, after a tip-off, the police found the stolen car in an open space outside Sfalangiotissa cemetery in Ayios Athanasios, not far from the victim’s house. Inside the car were two drums of flammable material.

Investigations linked the stolen car with the white van used by the perpetrators.

CCTV footage from the area recorded people on motorcycles circling the area from October 9 to 14.

On October 14, the same people were seen getting into stolen vehicles and following a certain route leading to the victim’s house and the point where he was shot on October 17, leading the police to conclude it was an orchestrated crime.

It is furthermore believed that the drums of flammable material were to be used to torch the stolen car and destroy evidence, as happened on the day of the assassination.

According to Philenews, the investigator told the court that the police obtained information on October 24 pointing to the 51-year-old as the primary suspect for the theft. He was arrested on October 25 and interrogated, denying any involvement.

However, DNA samples sent to the Institute of Neurology and Genetics for laboratory tests revealed that the 51-year-old’s genetic material was the same as found on one of the drum lids in the stolen car.

A new arrest warrant was issued on October 26 and the suspect once again denied any involvement.

Police investigators have already taken 68 statements and conducted 20 searches, which produced dozens of pieces of evidence that are now being evaluated. CCTV footage is also being studied.

A further 90 statements are expected to be taken from people close to the victim and the suspects.

The court is still in session.

Demosthenous, a former president of Karmiotissa FC and football agent, was killed while riding in the passenger seat of a Rolls Royce Spectre driven by his 18-year-old son. Gunmen in a white van ambushed the vehicle, firing multiple shots before fleeing the scene. Demosthenous was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after.

So far, six people have been arrested in connection with the case. Apart from the 51-year-old, arrests include the 44-year-old man, a 30-year-old inmate, a 58-year-old man, a 39-year-old Greek national, and a 30-year-old man serving a sentence for drug offences.

Authorities believe these individuals were involved in various aspects of the crime, including supplying the motorcycle used in the attack and providing vehicles for the perpetrators’ escape.