Federal forces do not rule out that former local was involved in a murder in Kalinovskaya village

Russian military in Chechnya do not rule out that a former local resident and now the head of a bandit group, Abdul-Malik, was involved in the assassination, which took place in the village of Kalinovskaya. On Sunday, armed bandits attacked the home belonging to the head of local administration, Khizir Dunayev. The official sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died on the way to hospital.

A spokesman for the anti-terrorist operation headquarters told RIA Novosti that initial investigations established that the killing could have been perpetrated by Abdul-Malik's bandit group operating in that area.

According to the military, Abdul-Malik's real name is Vitaly Smirnov. He was born and lived in that village. After the beginning of the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus he adopted Wahhabism and joined the group. Later on, the chief of this group was killed by federal troops, and Smirnov took over. Smirnov's group now numbers up to 20 militants.