Bomb targets bank raid witness

A BOMB blast in Limassol yesterday morning has been linked to the arrest of three suspects following last Thursday’s Ypsonas armed bank heist.

Motorcycle parts shops Zenmar Trading was the target of a homemade device, which exploded at 1am yesterday.

Police said it was the owner of the shop, Zenon Georgiades, 57, who gave police statement that led to the arrest of three suspects connected to last week’s armed robbery, in which the culprits got away with £19,000.

Police believe the blast was an attempt at intimidation against Georgiades, warning him to keep his mouth shut or face further reprisals.

“I can’t say if the statement I gave to police about the battery has anything to do with this,” Georgiades told reporters.

Georgiades had told police that a new battery on the stolen Yamaha used in the heist had been bought from his bike shop a day before the robbery.

A small home-made device containing low-intensity explosives was placed behind the front wheel of the Georgiades’ company Isuzu van, causing light damage, bomb expert Antonis Shiakallis said yesterday at the scene on Limassol’s Makarios Avenue.

He said it was too early to say whether the latest blast had any similarities to other incidents in a recent spate of bombings in the town.

Two masked gunmen were involved in Thursday’s Ypsonas hold-up; they were seen leaving the Bank of Cyprus branch on a red motocross bike, which was later found abandoned.

Police have yet to recover the money and the firearms used.

Panicos Chrysostomou, 19, Pantelis Ioannou, 26, and Herodotos Petasis, 34, were all arrested in connection with the robbery the next day.

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