Two men were arrested Friday in connection with last week’s bank robbery at Countryside Shopping Centre in Savannah.

Although rumour of the arrests had circulated widely around the Cayman Islands by Friday evening, Royal Cayman Islands Police Service officials did not confirm that two suspects were in custody until Sunday afternoon.

In fact, a police statement issued Friday night denied that any arrests in the heist had been made.

“At this stage RCIPS has made no arrests in relation to the robbery,” the Friday police statement noted.

A police spokesperson said Sunday that details of the Friday arrests were not immediately announced for operational reasons. Also, police said that two men who were the subjects of media enquiries on Friday were not the same individuals as those who were arrested that evening.

Police confirmed Sunday that two men, aged 21 and 24, were in custody on suspicion of robbing the Cayman National Bank branch at Countryside.

The two suspects are Caymanians, according to police. The Caymanian Compass is not identifying the two men because charges have not been filed against them.

Police also said the vehicle believed to have been used in the bank robbery was recovered earlier on Friday.

The lunchtime robbery last Thursday was just the fourth bank hold-up to have occurred in the Cayman Islands in the last 20 years.

Shortly after 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, two men entered the Cayman National Bank at Countryside.

Police said one of the men was carrying what appeared to be a firearm and fired a shot into the air. The men then ran off with a sum of cash.

No one was hurt in the robbery.

RCIPS immediately launched an extensive investigation into the heist.

Over the past few days, police said several houses were searched and a number of people interviewed in relation to the enquiry.

CCTV footage obtained from the bank and from businesses in the Countryside Shopping Centre has also been reviewed.

Read much more on this story in Tuesday’s editions of the Caymanian Compass…