Police probe death of man, 22, found in park
POLICE have launched an investigation into the death of a 22-year-old male found in a children’s park in Ozanköy on Tuesday morning.
Blood and urine samples were taken from Halil Dural, whose body was discovered at around 11am at the park on Şen Sokak, to help determine the cause of death. An initial examination of Mr Dural’s body revealed no sign of injury, police said.
Teams from the Girne Police Department Forensic Division and the Crime Scene Investigation Unit cordoned off the area while they carried out investigations.
A photographer from Cyprus Today’s sister newspaper Kıbrıs who attended the scene found a “drug-like substance” believed to be “Bonzai” wrapped inside a 5TL banknote left on steps.
The Girne Police Department Forensic Division team returned to the scene along with narcotics police to examine the potential evidence.
DRUGS
Police later arrested a suspect referred to by the initials “KE” who was brought to Girne District Court on Wednesday on suspicion of “purchasing and possessing” drugs.
Police officer Mert Gültunar, of the AntiDrugs and Smuggling Branch, told the court that KE had been seen together with Mr Dural in the park by eyewitnesses and on security camera footage.
Officer Gültunar also told the court that KE had said in a statement he and Mr Dural had been taking “Bonzai” together.
The court ordered that KE be remanded in custody to allow time for a post-mortem on Mr Dural to be completed.
The circumstances of Mr Dural’s deaths echoed those of Arda Erkan, 26, and Anıl Karabıyık, 20, who both died in 2015 after taking drugs.
In October 2020 young mother Buğra Nil Kaptan died after being in a coma for weeks after swallowing seven grammes of cocaine to avoid being caught by police in Gazimağusa.