Khatlon prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the December 1 explosion in the Qurghon Teppa police department.

In a report released at a news conference in Qughon Teppa,  the Khatlon chief prosecutor Nasrullo Mahmoudzoda noted on January 23 that the Khatlon prosecutor’s office has launched in a fatal explosion that occurred  in the building of the Interior Ministry’s office for Qurghon Teppa on December 1, 2017.  

According to him, the Qurghon Teppa prosecutor’s office has investigated the incident but it has refused to institute criminal proceedings over the incident.

“Last week, the Khatlon prosecutor’s office reversed the decision adopted by the Qurghon Teppa prosecutor’s office and resumed investigation,” the Khatlon chief prosecutor noted.

Recall, an official source at the Interior Ministry said last month that Captain Muhiddin Zohidzoda, an investigator with the Interior Ministry’s office for Qurghon Teppa, was killed in the explosion that occurred in the evening of December 1.

According to him, a loaded RPG (hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher) exploded when Captain Zohidzoda was registering weapons found by police officers in one of districts of Qurghon Teppa.

The source refrained from giving further details of the incident.

Arms caches having been discovered in the city are legacy of the country's disastrous civil war.  

The RPG is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher).  A rocket-propelled grenade (often abbreviated RPG) is a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon system that fires rockets equipped with an explosive warhead.  Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier. 

An RPG comprises two main parts: the launcher and a rocket equipped with a warhead. The most common types of warheads are high explosive (HE) and high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor and stabilized in flight with fins.