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RPG warhead was stolen
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THE TWO basic questions of who stole a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) anti-tank warhead from a Nicosia district National Guard (NG) camp and why, are still unanswered, as police and NG personnel continue their separate investigations into what is now being treated as theft.
Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said yesterday that the results of the investigation so far indicate that the warhead was indeed stolen from a crate on board a Leonidas armoured personnel carrier, as the seal on the crate of six RPGs had been deliberately broken.
“The warhead was removed from one of the RPGs at the bottom of the crate and then the others were replaced on top of it, so we judge that the method used indicates that the military item in question was stolen”, he added.
The police spokesman said that a large number of statements had been taken from military personnel both from the camp in question – which has not been named – and other units. Some NG personnel serving at the particular camp were taken to CID headquarters in Nicosia yesterday, where DNA samples and fingerprints were taken.
Katsounotos said that the police had not yet established exactly when the warhead was stolen, but they have narrowed the period under investigation down to between June 8 and August 9. The armoured personnel carrier from which the theft occurred was used in a NG exercise on July 28, but the anti-tank RPGs were not used.
National Guard spokeswoman Aliki Stylianou said yesterday that the NG is stepping up inspections of munitions stores, which currently take place on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis according to need, as well as ad hoc inspections, for example when there is a change in unit commander.
Stylianou said that, before the theft of the RPG warhead was discovered, Defence Minister Costas Papacostas had already given instructions in consultation with the NG high command for independent five-man inspection committees to be set up. Three of the five team members – all officers – will have no link whatsoever with the unit they are sent to inspect.
Meanwhile, the last of the eight men arrested last Friday in connection with the theft of 172kg of PG-2 plastic explosive from the NG depot in Palodia (Limassol district) was released yesterday, at the end of his remand period.
During the course of a remand hearing at Limassol District Court that stretched over the weekend, the judge decided that the man was one of four suspects who should be remanded in connection with the discovery of a large quantity of ammunition and illegal weapons, but not in connection with the explosives theft.
Katsounotos said that the man will appear in court at a later date to answer the charges on which he had been arrested.
