Man gunned down in professional hit

A 31-year-old man was shot dead in Limassol early yesterday in what police believe was a professional contract killing.

According to eyewitnesses Pavlos Hadjicostas, otherwise known as Michalou, was gunned down by two men as he was walking towards the entrance of his apartment block in the Yermasoyia tourist district at around 5.15am.

His fiancée heard the gunshots from their apartment on the fourth floor and called police. Hadjicostas was rushed to hospital where the duty doctor pronounced him dead. He had been hit in the head, heart and leg by seven bullets fired from an automatic pistol.

Police have launched a manhunt to find the gunmen believing it was a professional hit. Heading the investigation is deputy police chief Charalambos Koulentis, who said the list of probable suspects was long and that police are investigating a number of possibilities. Koulentis said the authorities are taking all necessary measures to protect certain people involved in the incident, but added that it would take hundreds of police officers to keep watch on all suspected criminal activity on a 24-hour basis.

Police confirmed that the victim had been arrested in connection with a number of cases of criminal activity over the years.

In January 1999 he was arrested in connection with the murder of Giorgos Ioannou, otherwise known as Kotsouthkia. He was also arrested in September of the same year in connection with the attempted murder of Soteris Athinis in Heroes Square in Limassol and again on August 2001 in connection with the attempted murder of Christakis Christoforou on the Limassol-Platres road.

Hadjicostas was the son of deceased taxi driver Michalis Hadjicostas, also known as Michalos, a close friend of the Aeroporos family who were closely linked to the criminal underworld in the nineties.

Michalis died in a road accident in August 1995, several months after a failed attempt to kill him. His family has always believed that his death was not accidental.

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