PERSONAL differences are said to be the motive behind 53-year-old businessman Kyriacos Andreou’s murder on Monday.
Andreou was gunned down outside a café in Limassol’s Turkish Cypriot quarter while talking on his mobile phone.
Police yesterday combed the murder scene for evidence, though there are still no clear indications as to the identity of the culprit.
A large number of witnesses were called to give statements to police, while the victim’s mobile phone records were being checked.
According to state pathologist Eleni Antoniou, the victim was shot five times from behind with a pistol and from a very short distance.
Police Chief Michalis Papageorgiou yesterday said: “We are at a preliminary stage, all possibilities are being investigated and a motive has so far not been clarified – we have various indications”.
He added that the victim’s close environment was currently being questioned, while police were also working with some other evidence.
Referring to the sudden spate of murders – three men were killed in the space of a week – Papageorgiou said the police were especially concerned. “But everyone needs to be concerned – society, the media. At the end of the day the main question is, if someone is taking the law into his own hands, is he resolving problems or creating multiple problems?”
In another brutal killing last Saturday, a 23-year-old student was stabbed 17 times and dumped in the middle of the road in Latsia in what was believed to be a dispute over a paltry €540. And at the beginning of last week, a Limassol pensioner shot and killed his middle-aged daughter’s 50-year-old lover to put an end to their relationship. In the first two killings the culprits owned up to their crimes.
“If there was a way to turn back time, would the two gentlemen who were arrested for the two murders have acted the way they did?” Papageorgiou wondered. “We must all unite our powers to reinforce order and security in the Cyprus Republic, for the good of today’s generations but also future generations.”
Meanwhile, Papageorgiou yesterday announced the force would be stepping up measures to combat and prevent crime.
But he was keen to underline that there hasn’t been a surge in the crime rate, despite the three recent murders.
“It is a fact that we have had three murders but I would not say there was a surge in crime,” said Papageorgiou. “Two of the three murders have already been solved and they were the result of resolving personal differences and not something organised.”
“So in that respect, I don’t feel this is especially worrying, without saying we’re going to sit back and do nothing”.
The head of the force said all the necessary measures were being taken to combat as well as prevent crime, while a conference was held a police headquarters yesterday to discuss the various issues and the appropriate measures.
Asked to give an example of these measures, Papageorgiou said road patrols would be stepped up, “as well as other measures, which wouldn’t be wise to announce”.
