"Novaya Gazeta": law enforcers fail to explain discrepancies in case of shepherds killed in Dagestan

Five months passed since the murder of Gasanguseinov brothers in the Dagestani village of Goor-Khindakh. However, the investigation into the case of the murder has not moved forward. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the young men were killed in a special operation, which was jointly carried out by the police and FSB agents. Meanwhile, the FSB has not confirmed the information. This was reported by the article "Our children were killed by mistake" prepared by Irina Gordienko and published today on the website of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 23, 2016, in the Shamil District, brothers Nabi and Gasangusein Gasanguseinov from the village of Goor-Khindakh were killed. According to law enforcers, the killed brothers opened fire on them and were involved in the armed underground. Fellow villagers of the Gasanguseinov brothers said that the killed brothers were not involved in the armed underground, but were shepherds.

Irina Gordienko, the author of the article posted by the "Novaya Gazeta", published a summary report of the local police for August 23, 2016, according to which, the special operation was carried out by "members of the investigating team SOG-5 of the Russian FSB Department, the Centre to Combat Extremism (CCE) of the Dagestani MIA deployed in the village of Gergebil, and the Russian FSB together with MIA's Division for the Shamil District."

However, in reply to the appeal of the "Novaya Gazeta", V.A. Nazarov, the deputy chief of the FSB Department for Dagestan, has reported that "on August 23, 2016, members of the investigating team SOG-5 carried out no search operations in the vicinity of the village of Goor-Khindakh of the Shamil District" and were not engaged in any activities in the Shamil District.

Minister of the Interior of Dagestan Abdurashid Magomedov has refused to answer to the second appeal to the MIA with a request to explain the contradiction. The Minister has only noted that a "criminal case" is instituted on the fact of an attack on policemen. The official has also recommended directing all questions to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), reports Irina Gordienko.

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