Chechen religious figure's murderers identified

The criminals who assassinated the well-known Chechen religious figure Said-pasha Salikhov have been identified.

Salikhov and his son, officer of the Chechen OMON (special purpose police troop) Turpal-ali Salikhov, were killed in Starye Atagi (Chechnya's Grozny district) in the early hours of November 20 this year. The criminals got hold of the policeman's service weapons and of his car, and escaped from the crime scene. A day after, in the village of Gonty (Urus-Martan district of Chechnya) a burnt-out car formerly owned by the Salikhovs was found.

The regional operative staff for conducting the counterterrorist operation in the North Caucasus said the personalities of the criminals were identified on Friday.

All the four of them are participants of illegal paramilitary formations. Two were eliminated during the firefight at the moment of attacking the Salikhovs family. The remaining two were wounded. Their location is being established.