Pilgrim detained in Sochi is suspected of murdering Bostanov

Salamat Gandaev, a pilgrim from Karachai-Circassia, who was detained by law enforcement bodies in the city of Sochi, is suspected of murdering Ismail-Hadji Bostanov, Rector of the Islamic Institute.

"In the course of operative actions, the suspect was detained immediately after the ferry arrived in the port of Sochi, and was brought to the republic," Fatima Kardanova, press secretary of the MIA of Karachai-Circassia, said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The ship with 37 pilgrims from Karachai-Circassia, who were returning from hadj, was detained in the port of Sochi. Then, all the pilgrims, except for Salamat Gandaev, safely returned home.

Ismail Bostanov was murdered on September 20 in the morning in the city of Cherkessk. When his car stopped at the traffic lights in the city centre, it was shelled by unidentified persons. As a result of the shelling, Ismail Bostanov died, and his son was wounded and hospitalized.

According to preliminary data of the investigation, the suspects had prepared Bostanov's liquidation since summer of 2009; they used to wait for him at his residence and at the location of the Islamic Institute in the city of Cherkessk.