In Brief
Fraudsters traced
Gang extracted deposits for bogus lottery wins Officers from the police’s electronic crimes squad said yesterday that they had detained one suspected member of a gang believed to have defrauded large sums from unsuspecting citizens by sending them cell phone text messages informing them that they could claim large international lottery jackpots by paying a cash deposit. According to police, several people sent the requested 400-euro deposit to a foreign address in order to claim the bogus 2-million-euro jackpot. Inmate beaten Patra warden to be probed The state official responsible for monitoring security in the country’s prisons yesterday called for an urgent investigation into claims that the warden of Patra jail ordered the violent beating of an inmate at the institution on Monday. No details were released regarding the identity of the inmate nor the extent of the injuries he suffered in the beating. Robbers thwarted Police yesterday detained three robbers – two men and a woman – following a dramatic car chase from Peristeri, in western Athens, to the southern suburb of Neo Faliro. The chase began after a gunman emerged from a branch of Hellenic Post with a bag of cash following an armed raid and jumped into a car where two accomplices were waiting for him. The chase ended near the Peace and Friendship Stadium where police managed to corner the getaway vehicle. The three suspects – all Albanians – were being questioned. ISAP disruption Due to ongoing engineering works on the Kifissia-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP), there is to be no service between Omonia and Ano Patissia this weekend, ISAP’s management said yesterday. Passengers intending to travel on this section of the line will instead be able to use the X8 bus. Earlier this month ISAP announced that works on the railway route, which had been due for completion before Easter, will continue until at least the fall. Cyprus cuts Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias said late on Monday that he and other top government officials would take a 10 percent salary cut as a symbolic gesture in ongoing efforts to streamline the public sector. Christofias made the pledge during a televised press conference marking two years in power. The 10 percent cut in his annual salary of 145,000 euros would also apply to his 10 ministers and his undersecretary, the government spokesman, presidential commissioner and presidential office director. But Christofias suggested MPs and senior civil servants should follow suit for the sake of the economy.
