After closely reassessing evidence and video footage recovered from the robbery of a Piraeus Bank branch in Sykourio last week, the police investigators doubt that urban guerilla Nikos Maziotis was behind the heist and are considering the possibility of escaped 17N members Christodoulos Xiros being involved.
The video footage of the three bank robbers has led the investigators to believe that they were not any of Maziotis’ known accomplices. The methods used in the robbery are similar to those used in the December 2011 bank robbery in Pyrgeto near Larissa, which has been attributed to the Conspiracy of Fire Cells (SPF) militant group, which is thought to have assisted Xiros in his escape earlier in 2014.
The robbers in the 2011 bank heist wore military fatigues and have their fingers covered in adhesive tape to avoid leaving any fingerprints. The police identified the participation of SPF members in the heist after finding DNA traces on a sledgehammer and earphones recovered they left behind. The two suspects were arrested in Nea Philadelphia in April 2013.
