“Extorted money from compatriots.” Four Tajik nationals detained

Four men have been detained in Tajikistan on charges of extorting money from migrants in Russia.

The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan reported the detention of members of an organized crime group involved in extortion in Russia.

According to the police, this group, consisting of four men, all citizens of Tajikistan, engaged in the kidnapping of migrants and extortion on the territory of Russia. They forcibly abducted their fellow countrymen-migrants, including acquaintances and villagers, threatened them, and demanded large sums of money.

In a video report by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, the detainees admit that they forcibly took Tajik migrants to the forest or locked them in an apartment, threatened them with knives and other weapons, and demanded large sums of money.

Several victims also appeared in the video report and stated that they were taken to the forest, had a knife held to their throat, and were demanded large sums of money.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the extortionists received from Tajik migrants between 100,000 and 2 million Russian rubles (approximately from 1,100 to 22,000 dollars).

The suspects – Muhammadjon Mannonov and Bobokul Koriev, residents of the Abdurahmon Jomi district, Safarali Kulmatov, a resident of the Yavan district, and Komron Zabirzoda, a resident of the city of Hisor, have been taken into custody.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the criminals were detained in Russia in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and other Russian law enforcement agencies and were extradited to Tajikistan.

It is not reported when they were detained and extradited.

It is also unknown under what circumstances they gave testimony in front of the security cameras, and how credible these accusations are.

There have been cases where the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan published residents’ testimonies on video, but later it was revealed that the testimonies were given under pressure, and the case was fabricated.