Relatives of Ismoil Rakhmonov, a lecturer at the Tajik State University of Commerce, have been unable to find him for a week. In this case, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Tajikistan has detained Colonel Akmal Yusufzoda, assistant head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Department for Combating Organized Crime Shodi Khafizoda on suspicion of kidnapping. […]
Relatives of Ismoil Rakhmonov, a lecturer at the Tajik State University of Commerce, have been unable to find him for a week.
In this case, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Tajikistan has detained Colonel Akmal Yusufzoda, assistant head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Department for Combating Organized Crime Shodi Khafizoda on suspicion of kidnapping.
On June 19, Radio Ozodi published a video showing two people dragging Ismoil Rakhmonov along the ground.
The incident occurred on June 12 in the capital’s “1st Soviet” neighborhood while the lecturer was visiting his sister.
Although a week has passed, Ismoil Rakhmonov has not been found. Law enforcement agencies do not rule out the possibility that he has been killed.
Investigators obtained a non-disclosure agreement from the lecturer’s relatives.
Sources from Radio Ozodi reported that Akmal Yusufzoda was involved in the disappearance of Ismoil Rakhmonov, and he was the one who “forcibly put Ismoil Rakhmonov in a car and took him in an unknown direction.”
A source in the investigative authorities told Radio Ozodi on June 19 that Akmal Yusufzoda stated during questioning that he took Ismoil Rakhmonov to the Varzob Gorge and released him, “but this is hardly believable.”
It has also become known that relatives are searching for Ismoil Rakhmonov’s body along the banks of the Zarafshan River.
Nothing has been reported about the second person who was seen dragging Ismoil Rakhmonov in the video.
It is reported that the spouses of Akmal Yusufzoda and Ismoil Rakhmonov work together at the Tajik State University of Commerce. Ismoil Rakhmonov’s wife teaches management, while Akmal Yusufzoda’s wife teaches English.
According to eyewitnesses, a conflict arose between the women, which led Colonel Yusufzoda to call the lecturer for a conversation.
The university also confirmed that Ismoil Rakhmonov has not been at work for more than a week.
Experts believe that law enforcement officials in Tajikistan are granted broad powers, which allows them to commit serious crimes, but in most cases, they go unpunished.