LARNACA District Court remanded four people in custody for three days yesterday in connection with the theft of army explosives from a controlled destruction of ammunitions site at the National Guard’s (NG) firing range in Kalo Chorio.
On Tuesday morning, the four suspects were seen speeding away from the Kalo Chorio firing range in a jeep, the court heard. They were chased by a NG car, with which they collided. Two of the suspects – two men aged 23 and 35 – got out of the car and were arrested, but the other two sped off and the car was found abandoned later in the afternoon in Larnaca suburb Klavdia.
Searching the car, police found exploded shells and metals, though 1.4 kg of TNT is still missing, they said. The two runaway suspects were found and arrested later in the day. All four have denied involvement in the case, while police are now in search of a fifth a suspect.
“Following the immediate and effective reaction of members of the NG, and their decisive action, four of the five suspects were arrested by police and remanded for three days on a court order, while the remaining suspect is wanted,” Defence Minister Demetris Eliades said yesterday.
He explained that the munitions in question were part of a large quantity of old explosives that had been stored in open fields at the Palodia camp for decades, putting Limassol residents in danger.
“This danger is no more,” said Eliades. “The old explosives were stored in an appropriate mountain area. Of the 223,000 (explosives), 166,000 have already been destroyed, while another 57,000 remain. The NG will continue to destroy them until it has completed the task.”
He called on members of the public not to enter the NG shooting ranges as “they are putting their lives at risk”.
Larnaca News Agency yesterday cited sources saying it was common practice for members of the public to enter the firing range and collect scraps of metal for recycling. The police have reportedly sent numerous letters to the NG to put an end to this dangerous practice.
The explosives were stolen under the noses of the NG during a controlled destruction of obsolete munitions at the firing range on Tuesday.
During the destruction, officials discovered that explosives placed on site by a National Guard explosives expert had gone missing. The army placed small amounts of TNT explosives in 42 separate pits at the firing range, each one containing obsolete munitions used for the Bofors anti-aircraft 40mm gun.
The NG only realised the explosives were missing after the detonations were completed, and officials discovered that ammunition earmarked for destruction in one of the pits was still intact while the TNT was nowhere to be seen.
The National Guard is carrying out its own investigation.
Renewed concerns over safety to civilians were raised in the wake of the Mari disaster in July, when 13 people were killed after the detonation of a massive munitions dump there.
