Relatives of Murat Tekuzhev, killed in Nalchik, deny his involvement in IAFs

Relatives of Murat Tekuzhev, the 34-year-old resident of Kabardino-Balkaria, who was killed on March 30 during a special operation in Nalchik, claim that he had not been involved into illegal armed formations (IAFs).

Let us remind you that on March 30, the law enforcement agencies of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) reported that at about 9:20 p.m. Moscow time, near the TV aerial tower, officers from the special division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) tried to stop a VAZ-2107 car to check documents, and they were shelled from a Makarov pistol from the car. A driver of the VAZ 2107 car was killed by return fire. The criminal case was instituted under Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Attempt on life of law enforcement agents" and "Illegal trafficking of arms".

After the incident, a search was conducted at the apartment belonging to deceased Murat Tekuzhev; however, nothing illegal was found.

"Murat had two children, and his family expected a third child. He was too busy to feed his family," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Marita Tekuzheva, the mother of the killed man.

According to her, Murad worked at a carpenter shop, and in the evenings he worked as a private taxi driver. Some time ago, he was contacted by a man whom he did not know earlier and asked Murat to be his driver in the evenings. According to the woman, the client was generous.

"We were told that they tried to stop him to check documents, and he began to shoot. However, we believe that this is not true. Murat has never had firearms," says Maryana Tekuzheva, the wife of the killed man.

She has added that Murat had two mobile phones, and they both disappeared, and his passport was also lost. According to the wife of the killed man, his body got ten bullet wounds.

She also draws attention to the fact that the media have reported that the officers from the special division tried to stop Murat Tekuzhev near the TV aerial tower; however, the resolution of the search indicates that the power agents, who carried out the operation "to find members of IAFs and their accomplices", detained him in the horticultural organization "Sputnik" and offered him to surrender.