Information about a major police operation that took place a month ago on the island gets into the “light” of publicity Zakynthosfor the arrest of one of two Pakistanis who planned a terrorist attack on a Jewish restaurant in downtown Athens.

It was 5:30 in the morning, about a month ago, when anti-terrorists, accompanied by officers from the Zakynthos police department, suddenly broke down the door of the house where one of the two Pakistanis lived permanently.

Under the strictest secrecy and after several days of surveillance, the police broke into the house and arrested one of the two Pakistanis, but he did not have time to react.

House in Zakynthos

Who are these two arrested?

Such as “K” revealed, two men of Pakistani origin were arrested in Zakynthos and Sparta, but without any finds (explosive weapons, etc.). They have been living in Greece for more than four years.

The mobile phones confiscated from them were found to be linked to another Pakistani citizen, who allegedly encouraged them to attack the synagogue. According to information, the latter lives in Iran and is accused of murders.

Yesterday, two of those arrested were brought before the prosecutor, who charged them with a criminal offense. They have been given a deadline and are expected to apologize to the investigator on Friday.

As part of the investigation, more than ten people were brought in, all Pakistani citizens, but they were released.

EYP and Mossad investigation, reports of 15,000 euros

The investigation into this case began a few months ago after information provided to the National Intelligence Service by the Israeli Mossad.

EYP began investigating the existence of a similar nucleus in Greece in November 2022, reaching out to members of the Pakistani community in the country before settling on two main suspects.

About a month and a half ago, when the agency staff became convinced of the suspicious role of two specific Pakistani citizens (after processing and their activity on social networks), they reported this to the Department for Combating Terrorism.

The police delivered the foreigners and detained them under the pretext of administrative expulsion. However, their mobile phones were confiscated and a declassification process was initiated. Their connection to a third co-defendant, allegedly in Iran, was then discovered, in which they called for an attack on a synagogue for a reward of 15,000 euros each.

Photographs and videos were found confirming that the two had begun spying on a Jewish synagogue restaurant in Psirri, as well as messages discussing how they would carry out the attack.

Information from police sources indicates that the original directive called for assault with a weapon. However, when the two detainees stated that it was impossible to obtain weapons, their interlocutor urged them to use a gas cylinder to blow up the synagogue when it was full of people.

News today

Subscribe to kathimerini.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest news from Greece and the world at kathimerini.gr