DNA from bank heist points to fugitive terrorist Nikos Maziotis

Citing the results of forensic tests, police indicated on Tuesday that Nikos Maziotis, the self-professed leader of the guerrilla group Revolutionary Struggle who has been at large since July 2012, took part in a violent robbery last month in Achaia, in the Peloponnese.

In a statement, police said the DNA found on a bullet casing retrieved from the street outside the branch of Piraeus Bank in the village of Kleitoria, Achaia, matched that found in Maziotis’s home in Kalyvia, east of Athens, in two hideouts linked to Revolutionary Struggle in the Athens neighborhood of Kypseli and in a car believed to have been rented by the 42-year-old.

Police sources said they have not identified the second gunman in the Kleitoria robbery, which left a police officer with gunshot wounds.

Police stopped short of confirming that the DNA on the bullet casing is that of Maziotis as the latter refused to give a DNA sample on his arrest in April 2010. Maziotis and his girlfriend, Panayiota Roupa, have been missing since July 2012 after violating the terms of their conditional release following the completion of the maximum 18 months in pre-trial custody. A bounty of 1 million euros is out on each of their heads.

Authorities have intensified efforts to trace Maziotis since Revolutionary Struggle claimed responsibility last week for a car bomb explosion outside the offices of the Bank of Greece in central Athens earlier this month.