By Leo Leonidou
POLICE yesterday said they were doing everything in their power to find the car bombers who targeted the Limassol police chief in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Police said criminals bombed the pick-up truck belonging to Tassos Economides in suspected retaliation for his clampdown on illegal gambling.
No one was hurt in the blast at around 3am, which destroyed Economides’ vehicle as it was parked outside his house in the Ayios Spyridondas area of the city, said Deputy police chief Michalakis Papageorgiou.
Another car parked nearby also sustained damage from the blast.
The scene was immediately cordoned off and placed under police guard.
Initial forensic reports suggest a home-made pipe bomb packed with explosives was detonated underneath the vehicle, and police believe the attack may be related to a clampdown on illegal gambling involving fruit machines around the city.
“As long as I am breathing I will continue to fight crime. There is no way that I will relinquish or reduce my role in the fight against criminal activities in Limassol,” Economides told reporters at the scene.
Yesterday, Police Chief Iacovos Papacostas said the force would not be fazed by the attack against them, describing the act as cowardly. Speaking to state radio, Papacosatas described the attackers as cowardly: “It isn’t brave or manly to place a bomb under the car of a police officer in the middle of the night.”
He also sent a message to the culprits that the police would not stop until they have brought them to justice.
Limassol CID have questioned several suspects so far, but no hard evidence has yet come to light.
A clampdown on illegal gambling has been taking place over the festive season.
Justice Minister Sophocles Sophocleous said that police have so far carried out around 1,000 raids this month and confiscated over £40,000 in dirty money.
Over 160 people have been implicated, with hundreds of machines taken away by police.
Papacostas said that four arrests had been made in the past 48 hours alone, with checks continuing across the island.
“To illustrate the lengths these people go to, officers found illegal fruit machines in hidden back rooms, at both a Limassol kebab and sandwich shop,” he added.
The Minister warned entire families were being destroyed by the scourge of gambling.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2007
Has this clamp down got anything to do with the fact that a Casino has now opened in the South??????Can't have those profits going to gangsters outside the government owned ones can we now
:lol:
It also seems that setting off bombs has been a favourite of GC hoodlums since the 1950s. They were linked o the government then and seems they still are with your corrupt leader.
