Paphos man arrested for walking around with stolen gun

A 59-year-old man from Paphos was arrested on Wednesday after being spotted by an off-duty police officer holding a stolen gallery gun while walking around a residential area.

The man, who Paphos police’s assistant operations director Michalis Nikolaou described to the Cyprus Mail as “well known to the police as he has engaged with us enough times”, was seen about to enter his vehicle.

The off-duty police officer approached him and arrested him for carrying a firearm in a residential area. A search found he was also in possession of four cartridges.

Further investigations found that the gun had been stolen in January 2022 from a warehouse in the village of Kouklia.

The man is expected to be brought before the Paphos district court on Thursday for the issue of a remand, with the police’s investigation into the matter ongoing.