DUSHANBE, January 28, Asia-Plus  -- A 38-year-old citizen of Georgia Givi Kupradze has been detained in Tajikistan for armed robbery, a source at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) told Asia-Plus on Monday.

According to the source, the preliminary investigation has established that Kipradze’s name is present on the list of internationally wanted criminals,

Kupradze who had already been convicted in the Russian Federation of fraud has been wanted by Georgia’s police of car theft, the source said.  He arrived in Tajikistan in February 2007.  At first he lived in the Sughd province and then moved to Dushanbe where he worked with a local construction company. 

“Kupradze was detained on January 22, when he being in a state of drunkenness was trying to rob the money transfer office of Tajikistan Development Bank (TDB) at 30 Rudaki Avenue in Dushanbe,” the source said, noting that pistol Makarov was confiscated from him.  

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against Kupradze and an investigation is under way.  

In the meantime, according to the Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office, Tajikistan last year extradited 9 criminal to foreign countries.  Seven were extradited to Uzbekistan, one to Russia and one to Ukraine.  In 2007, 41 criminal were extradited to Tajikistan at requests of the Tajik Prosecutor’s General Office.  Russia, in particular, extradited 36 criminals to Tajikistan last year.