Police on Sunday detained a man wanted in connection with a 1998 car bombing in a southern Russian city that killed 22 people, authorities said. Magomed Mukhtarov, 44, was seized early Sunday during a raid on a home in the village of Kuppa in Dagestan, a Russian republic bordering war-wracked Chechnya, said Magomed Omarov, the republic’s deputy interior minister. Mukhtarov had been on the national wanted list for almost six years. During his arrest, Mukhtarov alleged threw a grenade at officers, but no one was injured, Omarov said.
| Tossing a grenade normally doesn't help your case... |
Authorities seized two Kalashnikov rifles, numerous grenades and a handgun. The owner of the home was also detained, Omarov said. Mukhtarov was wanted in connection with a car bomb explosion in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. The attack was intended to kill the city’s mayor, Said Amirov, in a local power struggle, prosecutors have said. Amirov, who has been the target of numerous failed assassination attempts, escaped unharmed. Two people have been sentenced to life in prison and another four people have been sentenced from four to 25 years in connection with the blast. |