A SUSPECT held in connection with an explosion outside a Limassol bar used his girlfriend’s car to drop off the bomb, a court heard yesterday.
Thirty-year-old Polycarpos Yiannakou was arrested on Wednesday after a witness allegedly saw him placing the explosive device outside the Lucy bar in Yermasoyia shortly before the 9.20am blast.
No one was injured from the explosion, which sent metal and glass flying around the area.
The same witness took the car’s licence plate and later gave it to police, who found that it belonged to a woman who has been living with Yiannakou for the past few years.
The suspect, police said, refused to give police a written testimony, claiming that at the time of the bombing he was in court for a case concerning his girlfriend.
But police have testimony from three witnesses who put the suspect at the courthouse after 10am.
Yiannakou told police he could not have used the car because it had engine trouble, but then he apparently changed his story saying he had driven it to court, police told yesterday’s remand hearing.
The suspect was remanded in custody for eight days.
Daylight bombings are rare and police think it was pure luck there were no casualties in the usually busy tourist area.
On Wednesday, Limassol CID Director Andreas Kariolemos said the timing of the bombing was unusual, stressing such actions harmed tourism.
Police suspect protection rackets or professional differences as being behind the blast.
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