Tajiks detained over Dagestani reporter’s murder

29 Mar, 2008 17:25 / Updated 17 years ago

Police have detained the main suspect in the murder of TV journalist Ilyas Shurpayev, who worked as a reporter for the state-run First Channel. They say they have found Shurpayev's mobile phone and watch in the man's apartment. Two more people were arrest

All three come from Tajikistan and were detained in the capital Dushanbe in an operation by Moscow and local police. The Tajik Interior Ministry says they will be tried there according to the country's law. 32-year-old Shurpayev, a reporter for the state-run First Channel, was found dead last week in his rented Moscow apartment. Several hours after Shurpayev's death, another prominent Dagestani journalist was gunned down in the capital of the republic. 58-year-old Gadzhi Abashilov was head of Dagestan's state-run TV and radio company. Police aren't linking the two murders, and say Abashilov was most probably killed because of his profession.