Police arrest suspected Dracumel robber

POLICE have arrested a man in connection with the robbery of the Dracumel kiosk in Strovolos last month.

During the robbery, kiosk owner Leonidas Arestis was beaten with a crowbar and tied up as his attackers escaped with around £8,500.

On Thursday, CID officers, acting on a tip-off arrested a 26-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker in connection with the robbery.

Yesterday, the case investigator told a remand hearing: “The kiosk owner was going through his accounting books when two masked men entered his shop from the back door.

“They attacked him with a crowbar, but the plaintiff fought back and managed to hit one of the two culprits. But he was soon overpowered and taped up with duct-tape and telephone wire to a pole.”

The two men made their escape after emptying the till as well as taking cigarettes and mobile telephone SIM cards amounting to a value of around £8,500.

He continued: “On Thursday, we received a tip off from a creditable source that he had been informed from the suspect that he had committed the robbery along with a compatriot of his. The source also said that the suspect had already sent around $1,700 from the cash that was stolen to the United States where he had members of his family.”

The suspect was later tracked down and arrested at a caf? and taken in for questioning.

Police also found a crowbar in his car.

“It should be noted that on December 25, the suspect was invited to a Christmas dinner by a friend of his girlfriend. There, their friend had told us that she had noticed a gash on the suspect’s head. In the investigation, we were informed that the kiosk owner had managed to hit one of the attackers on the head,” added the investigator.

A Nicosia court remanded the suspect in custody for eight days.

The owner of the late-night kiosk sustained serious head injuries in the attack. He didn’t come around until 4am, when he managed to untie himself and contact his family and the police.

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