Police probing contradictory claims in officer’s beating in Nikea

Police on Thursday included the Internal Affairs division in its investigation of the circumstances under which an officer of the Greek Police’s Attica Security Department was found bound and badly beaten in an apartment in Nikea, near Piraeus, after the contradictory statements of those involved.

The policeman claimed he was attacked by a group of foreign nationals when he tried to separate them during a quarrel and that he was then shoved inside the apartment.

However the four men detained for the incident, believed to be Pakistani, said they tied him up after he barged into their apartment to steal the contraband cigarettes they were selling.

Police sources cited earlier by state-run news agency ANA-MPA claimed that authorities received a phone call from a citizen at about 4 a.m. on Thursday morning, who said he heard noises and shouting from a nearby apartment.

When the police’s DIAS motorcycle unit arrived on the scene they were allegedly attacked by a group of men.

Αfter restraining the attackers, they entered the apartment to find their colleague tied up and incapable of speaking, according to the report.

The police officer was taken to the 401 General Military Hospital in Athens for treatment.