MOSCOW, September 23 (RIA Novosti) – A suspected mastermind behind the 2009 killing of a district chief in Russia’s North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan died while being questioned, regional police said on Sunday.
Abrek Gadzhiyev, the head of Dagestan’s Magaramkent District, was gunned down by unknown assailants in November 2009, when he left his house and was walking towards his car.
Dagestan’s Interior Ministry department said in a statement on Sunday that the suspected perpetrator, identified as Ruslan Akhmedov, had been arrested on September, 10. During questioning, he confessed to “all circumstances of this crime” and identified other people involved.
On Friday police detained the suspected mastermind, Nasir Dzhavadov, whom they believe had paid 1.5 million rubles (about $47,300) to have Gadzhiyev killed. According to police, the official’s killing was ordered in an attempt to establish control over the region’s businesses and authorities.
Dzhavadov felt ill while being questioned, police said.
“He received first aid on site, but he died before ambulances arrived, presumably due to heart failure,” Dagestan police said.
The circumstances of his death are being investigated.
