Chechen power agents have no proofs of Deputy Khambiev's involvement in Major Taisumov's murder

Major Magomed Taisumov, former deputy commander of the special-purpose battalion of the GRU "Vostok" (East), who was kidnapped in the evening of March 28 in the Gudermes district of Chechnya and later found murdered, was not tortured before his death, but was shot dead. Also, there are no credible evidences of involvement of Magomed Khambiev, a Chechen MP and a former defence minister of Ichkeria, a source from the law enforcement bodies of Chechnya asserts.

Chechnya continues investigating the kidnapping and murder of retired Major Magomed Taisumov, who had been a deputy of the Hero of Russia Sulim Yamadaev who was killed two years ago in Dubai. "No traces of his lifetime torture were found on the body of the murdered Taisumov, against what was claimed in some media with reference to his relative Isa Yamadaev or other relatives," the source told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Experts believe that Taisumov was killed elsewhere and then his body was wrapped in polyethylene film and brought to the outskirts of the village of Benoi. Magomed Taisumov did not die from torture; there were almost no marks of torture on his body; he was shot dead from his back in the heart area, most likely, from small-calibre firearms," said the source.

He also told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that inspectors have no data to confirm any involvement of the local MP Magomed Khambiev in this crime. "All assertions that Khambiev was behind the killing were based on the evidence of some mediator, who allegedly came to the Taisumovs and declared that Magomed's murder was a blood feud by Khambiev for the kidnapping and killing a few years ago of his younger brother Ali by servicemen of the "Vostok" battalion. Magomed Khambiev himself, who, incidentally, came to the republic only after the incident and was not aware of what had happened, denied the blood feud," said the source.

"When they began trying to clear up the case, it became known that the 'mediator' was sent by some other 'mediators', and they had been sent by some other people. In general, it is a very confusing and incomprehensible story, which sounds like a banal provocation aimed at confronting the two families. It all should be still dealt with," he said.

The source is sure that Taisumov's murder was committed either by militants, since deputy commander of the "Vostok" special battalion had been personally involved in many special operations against members of the armed underground, or by certain other forces, which thus tend to sow enmity in Chechnya and resume the blood feud between the Khambievs and the Yamadaevs, which was stopped last year. Another version, which is considered by the investigation, was the revenge of Georgian special services for Taisumov's participation in the 2008 August war on the side of South Ossetia.

However, some relatives and friends of the casualty are convinced that his killing had to do with the fact that after the conflict between the Yamadaevs and Kadyrov, Taisumov refused to accept the offer of the head of the republic join his subordinated power structures. According to one of close friends of the killed major, this version is supported by the confidence with which his kidnappers behaved and the number plate of one of their cars - starting with KRA (abbreviation of Kadyrov, Ramzan Ahmatovich - the most prestigious letter combination on license plates in the republic; according to local observers, the GIBDD (road police) issues such plates only upon personal approval of the president himself, and only to his relatives and close associates, - note of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent).

The official agencies give no comment on the information about the license plate of the kidnappers' car.