Dagestan: power agents seize weapons from house of suspect of links with militants; relatives claim provocation

On July 21, in the house of Shakhban Gasanov, a resident of the village of Chernyaevka, Kizlyar District of Dagestan, who was detained on suspicion of involvement in the armed underground, power agents found weapons. Gasanov's relatives assert that they were planted.

Shakhban Gasanov, 23, a resident of the village of Chernyaevka, Kizlyar District, was detained on July 16 on suspicion of involvement in the armed underground. Earlier, he had been convicted conditionally for illegal possession of weapons. Now, a criminal case has been opened against the detainee on charges of participating in illegal armed formations (IAFs) and illegal trafficking in firearms.

According to a source from the Kizlyar ROVD (District Interior Division), on July 21, an AK-74 submachine gun, made in 1986, with three magazines with 63 5.45 mm rounds were found in Gasanov's household.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a relative of the detainee, who asked not to disclose his name, that the submachine gun was planted by law enforcers.

Earlier, Aishat Nazhmudinova, the detainee's wife, said that the weapons had been also planted on the previous occasion, when Gasanov received his conditional sentence.

It is noteworthy that Shakhban's two elder brothers were suspected of having links with militants.