By a Staff Reporter
TWO Pakistani men and a Sri Lankan woman have been detained in connection with the premeditated murder of a 48-year-old Pakistani man, police said yesterday.
The man, a political refugee living on the island for the past two years, was found dead in his hotel room at around 11.20pm on Sunday.
Police said Badar Mohiuddin Jlani had multiple knife wounds on his body.
He was found in his room in a hotel at the centre of Nicosia.
Investigators from the onset turned their attention to the victim’s immediate environment, questioning numerous foreigners staying at the same hotel and other dwellings nearby.
Yesterday morning, they arrested one Pakistani man who is currently in custody at the Nicosia general hospital due to injuries he had on various parts of his body.
A second Pakistani and a Sri Lankan woman were arrested later in the afternoon.
Investigators said they could not speculate on the motive behind the crime as the investigation was ongoing.
They also refused to reveal whether the hotel’s security cameras had recorded the victim going to his room with one of the suspects.
But according to reports, police found bloodstains near a car parked in the vicinity, which could mean that the man was stabbed outside the hotel but managed to drag himself to his room where he died.
The woman and the man were arrested in the afternoon and will appear before a Nicosia court today.
Police said the first suspect’s remand hearing would probably take place in hospital.
Authorities believe they have solved the case, though more details concerning the motive are expected to be disclosed in court today.
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