Car explosion in Dagestan was attempt on district head, investigators assert

Investigators believe that one of the main versions of the car explosion near the village of Tashkapur, which occurred on Wednesday afternoon, was an attempt on Magomed Magomedov, the head of Gergebil District of Dagestan. This was reported by the spokesman of the Republic's department of the ICRF.

"The investigators consider all various versions of the crime; however, the attempt on Magomed Magomedov remains a high priority, since his cortege was driving by at the moment of the explosion," the RIA "Novosti" quotes the above source as saying.

The data on casualties and victims is varying. According to the Russian ICRF, eight people were killed by the explosion: a policeman and seven civilians, including an 11-year-old girl. Six police officers were injured. According to the MIA of Dagestan, six people were killed: Police Junior Sergeant Abdulmazhid Mirzoev and the Akhmedov family of five persons from the village of Khadjalmakhi. Four police officers, who organized a cordon, were brought to the local hospital in Khadjalmakhi, Levashin District, with fragmental wounds.

A criminal case was initiated on crime attributes, stipulated by Part 2, Article 105, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder of two or more persons), Articles 222 and 223 (illegal arms trafficking and illegal manufacturing of weapons and explosive devices) and Article 167 (intentional damage of property), the website of the MIA of Dagestan reports.