14:04, 26 June 2008

Kidnappers of Moscow resident detained in Chechnya

Employees of law enforcement bodies have detained a group of local residents suspected of kidnapping a lady-resident of Moscow in the Grozny District of Chechnya. A source in the interior bodies has informed the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about it.

"In the Grozny District of the Republic, as a result of a joint special operation conducted by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Chechnya and the Temporary Grouping of the Russian MIA, several locals have been detained. They are suspected of kidnapping and violent detention of a woman-resident of the city of Moscow," the source said.

He has not revealed any details of the incident saying the investigation of the case has just began.

Aslambek Apaev, a human rights activist and expert of the Moscow Helsinki Group for Northern Caucasus, thinks that kidnappings are one of the main problems in Chechnya. He believes that in most cases special agencies are hiding behind kidnappings.

Mr Apaev asserts that, according to Chechen human rights activists, in the recent years about 25,000 were kidnapped in the Republic, not 2000-3000, as they usually say.

Author: Muslim Ibragimov, CK correspondent