Leader of a gang kidnapping people detained in Chechnya

The leader of a gang which had been kidnapping people in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia, was detained Thursday morning in one of the districts of Chechnya. The identity of the criminal was established. It was local resident Rashidov, 52, RIA-Novosti announces. The details of the operation are not reported. The son of the detained criminal tried to offer armed resistance. Among the captives of Rashidov's gang was Yefim Kosorez, a resident of Khabarovsk (Far East). He was kidnapped in Baku. The businessman who had come to Azerbaijan last year to settle oil transportation issues was kidnapped by bandits together with $28 million. However, this sum did not satisfy the kidnappers. The criminals demanded that Kosorez pay more for his liberation. Among the kidnapped persons was also Chechen Arsen Shavkhalov, a resident of Khasavyurt (Daghestan, a republic within the Russian Federation, which neighbors on Chechnya). The criminals also demanded ransom for him.