Residents of Dagestan report detention and beating of Imam and head of Maidanskoe village administration

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by residents of the village of Maidanskoe, Untsukul District of Dagestan, that law enforcers had beaten up Rizvan Ustarov, 29, the Imam of the local mosque. Also, for refusing to participate in the sweeping of the village, they beat up Abu-Gasan Nurmagomedov, the head of the rural administration, eyewitnesses assert.

In the morning on July 6, the Untsukul District of Dagestan was put under the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime. Power agents blocked the villages of Maidanskoe, Zirani and Balakhani. According to the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC), during the special operation one law enforcer was lost and three others wounded. Five suspected militants were also killed.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by an eyewitness about the Imam's detention. According to the source, beating became known, because the Imam left his switched-on mobile phone in his pocket.

Another villager said that in the evening on July 6 power agents also beat up Abu-Gasan Nurmagomedov. "They wanted to make him a sort of a 'human shield' – to be the first to enter the houses, where militants could be hiding. He refused; then, they accused him of unwilling to cooperate with law enforcers and that he refused to give out IAF (illegal armed formation) supporters. He was beaten up and is now at home in a grave condition," said the source.