NIZHNY NOVGOROD, September 29 (RIA Novosti, the Volga region, Andrei Rukavishnikov) - Police detained Thursday a man who they said had poisoned to death more than 10 people while masquerading as a doctor.
The police said the man, 49-year-old Alexander Astashev, had already spent 25 years in jail. He operated in several Russian regions, they said.
Prosecutors of the Kirov region, central Russia, where the man was arrested, said that a series of unusual thefts had hit the region since late July. A man posing as a military doctor went around apartments, offering people free medicines in short supply. He gave people some colored liquid to wash the medicine down, which made them lose consciousness. The sham doctor then searched their apartments and stole money, TV, video and audio equipment, and other valuables.
Prosecutors said 13 incidents of the kind had been registered in the Kirov region alone and three victims died there.
