Police have confirmed that a man who was found burnt in a truck in Xylofagou on the weekend had been previously shot.
Phileleftheros newspaper named the victim as being 39-year-old Michalis Anastasiou Sialos, aka Mike, who sources say was known to dabble with underworld figures. On Saturday night, a flaming pick-up truck was spotted close to a flyover linking Ayia Napa with Xylofagou village in the Famagusta District.
Police were called and a burnt body was discovered inside the driver’s seat. The passenger’s seat door had been left open. The owner of the car is said to be an elderly woman although many others are insured to also drive the vehicle.
“The body has been examined and samples have been taken for further forensic investigations, said British Sovereign Base Area (SBA) Superintendent Panicos Panagi . “The autopsy has already confirmed that the victim was shot although how many times is still not known exactly. We will know a lot more by the end of the week when we get the results from the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics.”
“We believe the actual killing took place in the same area. It is too early to come up with any concrete conclusions yet but it appears that this crime was due to professional differences that the victim may have had.”
Reports in Phileleftheros say that the victim was shot at point-blank range to the head and body with a pistol in what appears to be a professional killing. Others report that he had died as a result of shots to the chest.
Sialos, who had served a ten-year prison sentence in Athens for drug trafficking in his youth, had escaped an attempt on his life back in 2013.
Cyprus weekly
