DUSHANBE, May 11, 2016, Asia-Plus – Relatives of the 23-year-old Mahmadali Ahmadov, who is suspected of involvement in the murder of a high-ranking Russian police officer and five of his relatives, say he traveled to Russia from Tajikistan voluntarily in order to prove his innocence.

The Ahmadov family has lived in Russia’s Samara oblast for almost twenty years.  They moved to Russia when Mahmadali Ahmadov was only three years old.  They live in the village of Kushnikov, which is located 40 kilometers far from Ivashevka, where the murder occurred.  Mahmdali is married with one small son.       

Mahmadali and his wife decided to open a small café.  They took a loan and began to draw up documents for private entrepreneurship.  Mahmadali was solving the issue of land.     

On that unlucky night, Mahmadali was reportedly at home.   The next day, he came home and said that certain people had come and pressurized him to leave Russia in two hours.

“Mahmadali returned to Russia from Tajikistan voluntarily in order to prove his innocence after he learned from media reports that he was suspected in the murder,” his relatives said.

We will recall that Tajikistan''s Interior Ministry said on May 5 that Mahmadali Ahmadov voluntarily presented himself to police in Dushanbe on May 4 after he learned from media reports that he was suspected in the murder.

Ahmadov said the allegations were not true, and traveled to Moscow voluntarily -- even though Tajikistan''s laws protect him from being extradited to Russia.

Russia''s Interior Ministry said an ethnic Tajik named Mahmadali Ahmadov, who is suspected of involvement in murder of a high-ranking police officer and five of his relatives, was detained at Moscow''s Domodedovo Airport on May 4 upon his arrival there from Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

The deputy chief of staff of the Russian Interior Ministry’s office for Samara oblast, Andrei Gosht, was found dead at his home in the Ivashevka settlement near Syzran on April 24 along with five of his relatives.

Russian federal investigators say three suspects arrested in connection with the murder of a high-ranking police officer and five of his relatives have confessed to the killings.

The investigators identified the three arrested men on May 3 as Roman Fataliyev, Islam Babayev, and Orxan Zahrabov, all natives of Azerbaijan.

On May 2, Russia''s Investigative Committee said the suspects were from Central Asia.

Russia''s Investigative Committee has said that all of the suspects will be charged with murder and robbery.

Meanwhile Life news website reports that true murderers are still at large.  According to Life, the gang of the Nushtayev brothers from Uzbekistan’s Ferghana oblast could be involved in the murder.  Members of this gang are nationals of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.  Life noted that it could not be ruled out that the true murderers had already left Russia, crossing the Russian-Kazakh border in the Orenburg oblast.

There were rumors that Andrei Gosht had  imposed “contribution” on local criminals and merchants and 2 million U.S. dollars could be hidden in his house.