A 35-year-old man was remanded for eight days in police custody on Wednesday in connection with the abduction of two 10-year-old boys from their Larnaca primary school.
The Greek Cypriot appeared before a Larnaca District Court behind closed doors for a hearing that lasted 15 minutes. The suspect appeared without a lawyer and there was a heavy police presence outside and inside the court.
The suspect was arrested on Tuesday afternoon at his apartment less than a kilometre away from the school in Kamares where the boys were snatched from.
Following a tip-off from a neighbour, police found the two boys at the suspect's flat. Computers, as well as other evidence from the apartment, were sent for forensic tests.
Police chief Zacharias Chrysostomou told reporters later Wednesday that the suspect has admitted to the kidnapping in a voluntary statement given to police, claiming the motive for the abduction was to extract a ransom.
He said all medical checks show the boys came to no physical harm or were ill-treated in any way.
Chrysostomou also paid tribute to the neighbourhood watch scheme which helped find the children seven hours after they were taken from outside their school. There are currently 105,000 neighbourhood watchers across Cyprus, he said.
The boys were successfully located after a huge search operation.
The schoolboys, both Greek nationals, were found nearly 8 hours after they went missing after an unprecedented search that involved the general public as well.
Cyprus Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said the man was not known to police and the evidence points to the motive being financial, he ruled out the suspect being a sexual predator.
The boys were found close to the school after a neighbour reported the man acting suspiciously when apparently changing the number plates to a car that fit the description of one spotted at the school.
This appears to be a random abduction as it is believed the boys were not specifically targeted.
The random kidnapping of children – apart from the odd child custody dispute – are extremely rare on an island that is centred around the extended family.
The incident has shocked public opinion triggered an extensive large-scale police operation to locate the boys, who are friends.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades – in New York to attend the United Nations general assembly – tweeted: “Congratulations to the Cyprus Police, to all the authorities of the Republic, and the titanic effort by all the citizens who have contributed with information to the location of the two children. Thank you from my heart.”
Tuesday’s incident happened before the first bell of the day.
A man pretended to be a new teacher at the school had asked a group of boys for help to carry some books from his car.
The two friends volunteered to help while others later said they declined because the man looked suspicious.
The alarm was raised 45 minutes after the two boys failed to show up in class.
A more general debate has been raised about the level of security at schools and the importance of commuity policing.
