Two men have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the attempted murder of a Nadur man who was taken home with a broken bottle still lodged in his skull on Sunday morning.

Police sources said the two men are assisting the police in their investigations into the case in which 23-year-old Christopher Mercieca was critically injured.

Mr Mercieca was rushed to Gozo General Hospital at around 1 p.m. after his aunt, who had gone to his house with his lunch as she usually did, found him covered in blood.

His injuries were serious and the man was transferred by helicopter to Mater Dei Hospital where he was placed in intensive care. His condition remains critical but he is believed to have spoken to the police about the incident.

Police sources said the information investigators had was quite sketchy but the inquiry revolved around an argument the man had outside a bar in Marsalforn.

The possibility of the attack having taken place inside his Nadur home has not been ruled out although circumstantial evidence, such as the lack of a forced entry and no disturbance to items inside the house, point towards an incident that did not take place in the house.

The police believe the man was driven from Marsalforn to his house in Nadur with parts of a broken glass bottle still lodged in his skull, as they did not find any traces of blood in Mr Mercieca’s car.

Based on this information, the police have arrested two people, one of whom is the owner of the Marsalforn bar where the alleged incident took place.

Another person arrested for questioning is a 22-year-old man from Nadur whom police believe was involved in the argument.

The police are still inves-tigating and it is not being excluded that one of the two men, or both, will be charged with attempted murder.

Magistrate Paul Coppini was informed about the case and a number of court experts were appointed to assist in the magisterial inquiry.