Police foil armed robbery in Ayia Napa

POLICE were yesterday seeking a man aged between 20 and 25 in connection with an attempted armed robbery against an Ayia Napa hotel company employee who was carrying £38,000 in cash.

One man has already been arrested suspected of taking part in the heist.

Two helmeted men ambushed Aqua Sol Hotels employee Kyriacos Afxenti at 12.30pm as he was on his way to the company’s central offices on Yuri Gagarin Street.

He had just returned from the bank where he had withdrawn the money needed for the daily operation of the company’s numerous hotels.

One of the assailants pulled out a pistol while the other one tried to grab the briefcase with the money.

But police officers, who apparently knew about the duo’s plan and were watching them from nearby, moved quickly and seized the startled raider holding the briefcase.

The suspect was injured in an ensuing scuffle.

But the man holding the pistol managed to get away, with police in hot pursuit. Officers fired several warning shots during the chase but eventually lost their man.