A Kazakh businessman who was attacked and mugged last Monday succumbed to his injuries yesterday, in what police said was Cyprus’ first death from a mugging.
Police are now investigating a case of premeditated murder, though they admit there are few leads for finding the culprit.
The 42-year-old man, married with a young daughter, was attacked and robbed outside his internet café business in Limassol at the start of the week in his shop’s car park.
“This is the first time we have had a death as a result of a robbery or mugging,” police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos confirmed yesterday. “Unfortunately, it seems criminals have started to savagely attack their victims.”
He added, “We are now treating the case as a premeditated murder and the police chief has given the investigating team orders to use all legal means possible to locate the culprit.”
But Katsounotos said the lack of evidence and leads have made it hard for the force to make much progress. “We have some direction, but our task is a difficult one,” he said.
The 42-year-old man from Kazakhstan had been critically injured after sustaining head wounds in the attack.
The robber had been lying in wait for the victim in the parking area behind the shop.
He had closed up shop late that night and was getting into his car, when the thief attacked him from behind and repeatedly hit him on the head with what investigators believe to be a big stone.
The victim was found a while later by his concerned wife and daughter, who became worried about him being late and went to the shop to investigate. They found him covered in blood on the ground.
The culprit stole the 42-year-old’s bag, containing around €3,000. The victim was being at Nicosia General Hospital where he died a little before 11 am yesterday. According to the head of Limassol CID, Yiannis Georgiou, the police had been investigating a case of robbery and injury. But now it has been changed to premeditated murder.
The case, he said, is considered especially difficult as no evidence was spotted on the scene, nor were there any witness reports or CCTV footage.
All the police have are a few incoherent details the victim told his wife when she found him, said Georgiou.
