Makhachkala protesters demand release of Talgi settlement head

Residents of the Makhachkala dwelling settlement of Talgi have blocked the highway, demanding to release Asilder Magomedov, the head of the settlement. Law enforcers had detained him because of his fight against drug dealers, the protesters have claimed.

Magomedov was detained at his home this morning, his wife Saniyat Abakarova has informed. "They've conducted a real special operation to detain him. Law enforcers broke into the house and conducted a search by turning everything over," she told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Saniyat has linked the detention of her husband with his active fight against drug dealers. "Dealers came here from different cities – from Derbent, Khasavyurt, even from Chechnya. My husband, like all the locals, prevented them from appearing here. A barrier was set up at the entrance to the district; sometimes it came to brawls with dealers'" she said.

Several dozen Talgi residents gathered in the centre of the settlement to express their protest. They blocked the road leading to Buynaksk for about 30 minutes.

Such support for Magomedov is due to the fact that he has been fighting against drug dealers for several months, a local resident said, adding that law enforcers are on duty along with young people, but they are not too interested in the fight against dealers.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 3, 2021, on the slope of Mount Tarki-Tau in Makhachkala, a 23-year-old local resident, Vali Abduragimov, who also opposed drug traffickers, was killed. According to social network users, a former law enforcer was involved in illegal drug circulation.