Residents of Grozny report kidnapping of two persons by members of the top brass

According to several eyewitnesses of the incident, at night of February, 7, in Lenin district of Grozny two young men were beaten up and taken to an unknown place by members of the top brass. Law enforcement bodies avoid providing any comments on the matter.

"It happened at about midnight, near Dudaev boulevard (Lenin district of the Chechen capital - note by "Caucasian Knot"). A "VAZ-21099" car stopped in the street and two young men aged approximately 25 came out of it. At once one more car came up and four military uniformed men jumped out and started beating these guys up", a resident of Grozny who, according to his own words, had been an eyewitness of the event told a reporter of "Caucasian Knot".

Our interlocutor says the young men did not even have time to put up any resistance. "They were knocked down on the floor, beaten up to half-conscious state and then pushed into the car and carried away. The car in which the young men had arrived was stolen, too", the eyewitness says.

Hasan M., another local resident, remarks that nobody knows who the kidnapped guys were, who attacked them and for what reason.

A representative of law enforcement bodies told a reporter of "Caucasian Knot" he had no information on the incident which took place at night of February, 7, in Dudaev boulevard. "One can speak of kidnapping or illegal detention only in case of availability of some reliable data, written statements from relatives etc. I have none of these, so it makes no sense to say anything on the matter", he emphasized.

At the same time, a member of a local human rights organization who preferred to remain anonymous expressed an opinion that the personnel of the republican enforcement agencies often violated the law while carrying out their direct duties. "During a detention a person may be beaten up, get no explanation of the reason for detention, an officer may avoid introducing himself etc. But the strangest thing is the authorities' support of this kind of treating ordinary citizens by enforcement agencies' personnel", the human rights activist says.