Murder of assistant of First Vice-Premier of Chechnya could be militants' revenge

Law enforcers of Chechnya are now searching the unknown person who shot dead, last Saturday, on June 6, in Argun, Musost Khutiev, assistant for power agencies of the First Vice-Premier of the Government of Chechnya and former Brigade General of Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Militants' revenge is viewed by inspectors as the main versions of the murder.

The Republic's MIA has explained that the crime was committed in the vicinity of the Stantsionnaya Street, near the trading base, when Mr Khutiev was on his way to the house of one of his friends. The gunman shot him in his head and disappeared. Operative agents found three cartridges to Makarov pistol in the place of the crime.

"Revenge of the members of illegal armed formations (IAFs) is considered as the basic version of the incident. In the past, Musost Khutiev had the rank of Brigade General and was in command of the so-called Northern Front of Armed Formations of Ichkeria. In 2002, after Khutiev, together with a group of 27 his subordinates, voluntarily surrendered and called other militants to make the same, bandits passed death verdict to him for treason," said a source in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

See earlier reports: "Chechen MoI reports 19 militants and nine militiamen killed during one month," "Militiaman killed in Chechen village bordering on Ingushetia," "According to his acquaintances, Makayev killed during a special operation in Chechnya was not a militant," "Chechnya: militia officer and two supposed militants killed in skirmish."