South Cyprus bank robbed 3 times in 6 months

A south Cyprus co-operative bank in Ayios Athanasios, Limassol, was robbed on Tuesday morning at gunpoint, making it the third time the bank was robbed in 6 months.

According to information released by head of Limassol CID Ioannis Soteriades two people wearing helmets approached the bank on a motorbike and forced the side entrance open.

The robbers who were armed with a sawn-off hunting shotgun and a pistol then instructed all 11 customers to lie on the floor and ordered the cashiers to hand over the cash from  their tills.
After taking the cash they fled on the motorbike which was abandoned 500 metres from the building.

From there, they were seen escaping in a blue BMW X3 vehicle.

Both the motorcycle and the car they used have been reported stolen, Soteriades said, adding the motorcycle was stolen on February 2 and the car on February 16.

Both the scene and the area where the abandoned motorbike was found were cordoned off.

The same branch has been the target of robberies twice last year.

On August 16 perpetrators got away with over €50,000 in cash and on September 8 with €40,000.

Clad in black and wearing motorcycle helmets, two men threatened the five customers and three staff present in the bank at the time.

Both times the robbers used similar methods. They were armed with the same type of weapons and fled the scene on high-powered motorcycles which were found burning shortly afterwards nor far from the scene.

Cyprus Mail