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Police Shocked by Harrowing Torture Footage in Casino Backroom
Posted on: February 9, 2026, 04:03h.
Last updated on: February 10, 2026, 04:27h.
- Torture videos found on suspects’ phones shock Cypriot investigators
- Violence linked to protection racket operating in Pyla buffer zone
- Suspects arrested after shooting outside Larnaca police headquarters
Police in Cyprus have launched an investigation into a violent organized crime group after videos emerged showing the torture of seven people in a casino backroom.
The footage, described by detectives as among the most harrowing they have seen, was discovered on two cell phones found on a 48-year-old man. The suspect was arrested following a shooting outside Larnaca police headquarters on January 17, The Cyprus Mail reports.
Police said the torture incidents took place inside a gaming venue in Pyla, a village located near Larnaca that is unique in still being inhabited by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
Pyla is inside the United Nations buffer zone established in 1964 to halt intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, a decade before Turkey’s 1974 military occupation of the north further divided the island.
Because the area is patrolled by UN peacekeepers rather than standard law-enforcement agencies, Pyla’s unusual administrative status has made it difficult to regulate commercial activity, allowing unlicensed gambling venues and other illicit enterprises to proliferate in and around the village.
Serious crimes in the village often require coordination between Cypriot authorities and UN officials because of the area’s split governance.
‘Office from Hell’
Police said the videos, recorded on different dates in 2025, featured people being held captive in “an office from hell” on the casino’s first floor.
Investigators said the videos show victims beaten, threatened with guns and knives, and coerced into handing over money or confessing.
In one recording, a man with a swollen eye and head injuries is punched, spat on and abused, at one point appearing to urinate during the assault. In another, he screams as a knife is struck against his head and he is threatened with mutilation.
Other footage shows a foreign national begging not to be beaten as he is repeatedly struck with a metal object, blood streaming from his nose before he collapses. One victim is seen with a gun forced into his mouth, while further videos show knives sharpened, hands slashed, belts used as whips, and victims kicked as they cry for mercy. One man appears in 16 separate recordings filmed in the same room.
Ringleader a ‘Prominent Businessman’
Police have also arrested a 27-year-old in connection with the torture case, while a 47-year-old man is also in custody. The latter, “a prominent businessman” is believed by prosecutors to be the ringleader of the criminal group, which they say collects protection money through violence and intimidation.
Police are currently hunting a third man, a foreign national, believed to have taken part in the torture as well as the January shooting.
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