Attempted robbery, and hostage situation in Zugdidi
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Thursday, October 22
On October 21st, a gunman broke into a Bank of Georgia branch in Zugdidi and took several people hostage. He released several of them shortly- they were pulled out of the building by a crane. According to one of the released hostages, 19 people remained in the room that spent the whole day there. One of them spoke to Nika Gvaramia, a director of the Main Channel, and said that the kidnapper was armed and demanded $ 500,000.
"There are 19 people in the building, in one room. The kidnapper is armed to the teeth - with a machine gun, a pistol, a grenade, which is removed by the defender and held in his hand constantly, so any violent solution to this situation is out of the question. Someone should come in unarmed and have the legitimacy to negotiate. The kidnapper is by my side," he said.
Soon after, Gigi Ugulava, the majoritarian candidate of European Georgia in the Zugdidi constituency, responded to this fact.
If the kidnapper now hears us or the police, I want to call, ask, and offer, as I know there are three hostages left in the building, and offer the police to negotiate. I can say without any populism that I am ready to replace those people, I am ready to replace the remaining hostages, he announced.
Later, a special briefing was held at the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the ongoing robbery at the Bank of Georgia in Zugdidi, where officials called on media outlets to stop broadcasting the ongoing events that directly threatens the operation of law enforcement agencies and the effectiveness of the operation. According to the ministry, Police officers had cordoned off the area around the scene, law enforcers were mobilized, and the investigative and operational measures were underway.
According to them, the investigation was launched under Articles 179, 236, and 144 of the Criminal Code.
Around 10:00 PM 3 hostages were released as a result of negotiations.
Later on, the kidnapper left the bank with the remaining hostages and got into a police car.
Irakli Kvaratskhelia, taken hostage at the Zugdidi branch of the Bank of Georgia, wrote on Facebook that all but 3 men had been evacuated from the building. According to him, police officers brought the money and will leave the building with the robber in a few minutes. "Thank you very much for your support. I will be taken for interrogation now, said Kvaratskhelia.
The robber was allegedly handed over the money by the head of the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Regional Police Avtandil Galdava, who replaced a few hostages and left with the robber and two other hostages.
