A Moscow court authorized on Thursday the month-long arrest of a man detained earlier in the day when he was pulled over on one of the Russian capital's main arterial roads and found to have a bomb in his car.
The man, identified by a police source as Magomed Aliyev, was detained after police discovered the improvised explosive device in his Mercedes car stopped on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, a road used daily by Kremlin officials. The bomb had the power of 400 grams of TNT and was stuffed with nails and other destructive elements. A gun was also seized from the car.
Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said the suspect, born in 1967 in Russia's southern republic of Kalmykia, was a member of a militant gang operating in the volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.
A criminal case has been opened on charges of illegal manufacture and transportation of weapons, ammunition and explosive devices, Biryukov said.
In court, the suspect denied the accusations, saying that he was unaware there was a bomb in his car.
Thursday's discovery came 10 days after Moscow marked the first anniversary of twin suicide bomb attacks on the city's metro and less than three months after a suicide bomber killed 37 at an international airport outside the capital.
Following the attack at Domodedovo Airport, police were ordered to tighten security at public transport facilities across the city. State security forces also continue battling Islamist militants in the volatile North Caucasus.
In a separate incident on Thursday, an explosive device with the strength of 200 grams of TNT was discovered in a car stopped in southeast Moscow's Ryazansky Prospekt.
MOSCOW, April 7 (RIA Novosti)
