Police keep tight lid on another assassination plot

Cyprus police are keeping a tight lid on another alleged assassination plot, as a similar case involving Israeli businessmen is ongoing behind closed doors, with law enforcement saying nothing except to confirm three people have been arrested.

Dinos Ellinas, the owner of a Limassol shipping company and the current school superintendent in the southern town, says he is utterly shocked after learning from police that they were investigating an alleged plot against him.

Three men are in custody in connection with the case, including two Greek Cypriot male suspects who worked as contractors for the school board and another Palestinian man.

Police have not issued an official report about the arrests, telling Knews the case was being handled in secrecy to protect the integrity of the investigation.

Local media said the two local suspects were detained Tuesday on attempted murder charges, after a police informant told law enforcement that the foreign suspect, who was arrested a day later, was the gun supplier in the case.

Ellinas went on television to say he was “utterly shocked” over the allegations, adding that he felt he had go public to provide accurate information about the police investigation.

“I can’t think of any reasons behind such a criminal act, I’m deeply troubled, knowing the two brothers and having visited them on school grounds where maintenance projects were going on,” Ellinas said.

The school superintendant went on to say that he never thought the suspects could ever have been capable of coming up with such plans, adding that the case did not start from any complaint on his part.

“I was only informed by the police about what had transpired previously as well as what was going on now,” he said.

Local media say the two suspects also told police they had no issue with Ellinas, pointing only to an unpaid amount of €15,000 that was expected to be settled through the school board.

But additional reports said the suspects were arrested on multiple charges including felony conspiracy, conspiracy to commit murder, as well as possession of illegal weapons and explosives.

Police have been keeping a tight lid on another alleged assassination plot against Israeli businessmen, with prosecutors citing national security reasons and safety concerns for informants.

Back in September police said they thwarted an alleged plot against Israeli businessmen in Cyprus, with some reports pointing to a financial dispute over unpaid Russian debts and others citing Israeli officials who said Iran was behind a terrorist plot to target Israelis on the island.

A Russian national of Azeri background and five other suspects, four Pakistanis and a man from Lebanon, were arrested in the case but police declined to specify the charges against each suspect.