DUSHANBE, February 5, Asia-Plus  -- .According to operations report, officers from the Rasht directorate for combating organized crime M. Ibrohimov, also known as “Kamol”, Sh. Asoyev, and A. Davlatov, also known as “Ali”, were involved in an attack on the OMON servicemen along with Mirzokhouja Ahmadov, who is also known as “Belgi”, a statement released by the Ministry of Interior (MoI) on February 5 said. 

The statement said that a working group of the ministry, comprising Colonel Rajabali Mahmadaliyev, the chief of the IOM directorate for combating organize crime, Colonel Oleg Zakharchenko, the commander of the IoM OMON (Special Purpose Police Squad), and a number of their subordinates, had been sent to Gharm to hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the crime situation in Rasht Valley and the results of work carried out by the Rasht directorate for combating organized crime in 2007.     

            “When they were getting out of cars near the directorate’s building subordinates of Ahmadov opened fire at them,” said the statement, “Colonel Zakharchenko was killed and six OMON servicemen were injured; four of them are still in hospital.”   

            The statement denies unofficial information that the OMON servicemen were sent to Gharm to arrest Ahmadov as “absolutely unfounded.”  

According to the statement, Colonel Mirzokhouja Ahmadov, who is former member of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), had worked with police since 1999.  He had served as the chief of the Rasht directorate for combating organize crime since 2002.  

The statement noted that the fact that many of Ahmadov’s subordinates had been involved in dozens of crimes is fact that Ahmadov has neglected his official duties.  

According to the statement, Ahmadov and his subordinates have been involved in numerous cases of violence committed in Rasht Valley. 

“Thus, on August 12, 2007, an armed group, numbering eight persons, attacked a coalfield Nazarayloq in the Rasht district.  Assailants beat employees of the Tajik-Kazakh joint venture KiTaKa and seized 5,000 somonis in cash,” the statement said. 

The investigation has established that Ahmadov himself and some officers from the Rasht directorate for combating organized crime were implicated in the attack on the coalfield and a number of other crimes related to abuse of office.    

The statement also denied information released by Vatandor Movement that the government forces are allegedly preparing for incursion into Rasht as unfounded.