Operations continue for hideout following fugitive’s arrest

Exarchia, Halandri and Kolonons were among the Athens neighborhoods police officers scoured late on Wednesday in their efforts to locate a hideout and other information regarding the activities of Revolutionary Struggle following the arrest of the leftist guerilla group’s head, Nikos Maziotis, on Wednesday. According to Skai television another operation was under way in the area of Pangrati on Thursday morning.

The 42-year old fugitive was injured before being arrested by officers in the area of Monastiraki on Wednesday. According to reports the fugitive fired 8 bullets while police fired once during the standoff on a busy street in the city center.

Maziotis was reported to be in stable condition on Thursday following shoulder surgery at the Evangelismos Hospital in Athens on Wednesday. He was expected to remain in hospital for up to two weeks.

A 29-year-old special police guard wounded in the thigh during the operation on Wednesday was in good condition in a military hospital and was congratulated for his efforts by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras via phone late on Wednesday. A 19-year-old Australian tourist treated in an Athens hospital for light shrapnel wounds in Wednesday’s operation was expected to be discharged on Thursday, while a German tourist who was slightly injured in the incident on Wednesday declined hospital care and returned to the port of Piraeus to continue with his cruise on the same day.

Maziotis had been at large since summer 2012 after violating the terms of his conditional release along with his wife, Panayiota Roupa, who is also being sought by police.