Relatives of missing Ingush resident claim idleness of law enforcers

Relatives of Umalat Bersanov, the disappeared resident of Ingushetia, claim idleness of the law enforcement agencies and, in the near future, they intend to ask for help in the neighbouring republic - Chechnya, where, according to the father of the disappeared man, his son is now.

Bashir Bersanov, the father of the disappeared man, is in a panic state: according to him, the investigators do nothing and "they are afraid of the FSB". "Absolutely nothing has changed. The investigation continues only when I come to the Investigatory Committee (IC) and in no other way. I visited the investigator three times," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Bashir Bersanov reported that the IC officers wanted to interrogate the relatives of the disappeared man. "I do not understand why this is necessary, and I'm indignant. I tell them that they won't question my girls. What kind of questions can they ask them?" He wonders, referring to the mother and sisters of the disappeared man.

The man believes that the investigators want to shift responsibility for the kidnapping of his son to the militants; according to his story, the power agents themselves are involved in the kidnapping. "They (the investigators) did not investigate the case and do not intend to do that. Recently, Smirnov, Assistant of Trubitsin, Plenipotentiary Envoy of the Russian President to Ingushetia (Vladimir Trubitsin is Chief Federal Inspector of the Southern Federal District (SFD), - note of the "Caucasian Knot"), read me a report: on August 24, Umalat Bersanov was listed as a supporter of the militants. I asked him where they got such operational data, who told you that? I'm the head of the family, and I do not know about that, and you know that for some reason," Bashir Bersanov wonders and stresses that the investigator failed to answer, where they got the information.

The father of the disappeared young man stated that he saw on the parking lot of the FSB of Ingushetia cars, and, according to witnesses, his son was allegedly forced into one of those cars. "Numbers and brands of the cars coincided," he says.

The man appealed for clarification to Yuri Seryshev, the head of the FSB Department for Ingushetia, and he said nothing. "He neither confirms, nor denies the information," the father of the disappeared man explained.

Bersanov reported this information to the investigator, and he also "did nothing". "The IC officials pay no attention to the information. It does not concern them: they say that the FSB has its own Investigatory Committee and that they are not entitled to interrogate them," he explained.

Bashir Bersanov decided to go to the neighbouring Chechnya: earlier, a source informed him that his son was there. "I hope they will help me. I will ask the meeting with Ramzan Kadyrov. I also hope to the help of the human rights defenders. I know no one there, in Chechnya," he stated.

At the same time, the father of the disappeared Umalat Bersanov did not appeal to the local prosecutor's office with complaints against the investigators. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was reported by Zalina Katieva, Spokesperson of the Regional Prosecutor's Office, the supervisory agency received no appropriate complaint.

"Nobody filed complaints to our office. Everything is under way," Spokesperson of the Regional Prosecutor's Office reported and suggested to seek clarification from the Republic's Investigatory Committee; however, the officials from the Republic's IC did not want to talk to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In his turn, Akhmed Kotiev, Secretary of the Security Council of Ingushetia, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the heads of the power agencies "had already been 'reprimanded' for their failure to find Bersanov".

"Yunus-Bek Evkurov, the leader of the republic, held a meeting on this issue. The meeting was attended by Chief of the Investigatory Department, the Republic's Prosecutor and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia. Yunus-Bek Evkurov was dissatisfied with the investigation and said that it "was not conducted at due level". I am not entitled to speak on the course of the investigation: in interests of the investigation, the details are not to be disclosed," Akhmed Kotiev stated.