"Kommersant": man, involved in attack on Novoselitsk ROVD, wanted to study "pure" Islam

The bomb blown up near the Novoselitsk ROVD (District Interior Division) was packed with striking elements and its components were similar to the components of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by militants from North-Caucasian armed groupings, the "Kommersant" reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 11, three persons attacked the ROVD for the Novoselitsk District. According to investigators, one of the attackers committed suicide bombing, and two others were killed. The attackers were identified as Zaur Akaev, Ramazan Khaibulaev, and Isai Abdulatipov, residents of the village of Kitaevskoe, who had earlier criminal records.

According to the investigators, Zaur Akaev was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for the murder of the new husband of his former wife. After he had served his sentence, he returned to his native village to his mother. Zaur Akaev was to report regularly once a week to a district police inspector at the regional centre, since he was sentenced to the restriction of freedom for three years.

Meanwhile, according to a source from the administration of the village of Kitaevskoe, after returning from the penal colony, Zaur Akaev allegedly wanted to go to Saudi Arabia to study "pure" Islam and the Arabic language, but he was unable to fulfil his dream because of his regime of "restriction of freedom,", the "Kommersant" reports today.

Investigators have already revealed where and by whom the components for the IEDs had been purchased, and law enforcers do not rule out that the attackers were involved in the armed underground in the Neftekumsk District. Believers of prayer houses in the villages of Chernolesskoe and Dolinskoe are also under suspicion.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.