Special agencies are in search of relatives of Aushev's widow

Russian special agencies are engaged in searching the four relatives of the widow of the assassinated Ingush oppositionist Maksharip Aushev, who disappeared in the end of last December in St Petersburg. However, so far, nothing is known about their whereabouts, a source in power agencies said.

The "Caucasian Knot" reported that relatives of Fatima Dzhanieva, widow of the well-known Ingush public figure and leader of the opposition Maksharip Aushev, disappeared in St Petersburg at night on December 28, 2009.

As reported today by the above source, until now the search was conducted by militiamen, and now the Department of the FSB (Federal Security Bureau) for St Petersburg and Leningrad Region is also involved, as the "Interfax" reports.

In Ingushetia, the misadventures of Fatima Dzhanieva's family are related to the activities of her uncle Ruslan Dzhaniev, known among militants as Barakat (was killed in September 2008 during a special operation in Verkhnie Achaluki village), as the newspaper "Kommersant" writes.

"It's a usual manner of Russian power agents to take revenge on militants' relatives," said Magomed Khazbiev, current leader of the Ingush opposition.

According to unofficial sources, Dzhaniev was searched as a militant who had arrived to St Petersburg with the aim of committing an act of terror. However, the GUVD does not confirm involvement of any missing relative in extremist organizations.

Earlier, the relatives of the missing people complained that criminal detectives from the inquiry division exhibited no special zeal in searching them.