According to Gryzlov, the Interior Ministry has already acquired information on the mastermind of the terror attack in Tushino, though he did not elaborate. According to some reports, the person is question is the leader of Chechnya’s rebel formations Shamil Basayev.
At any rate, on the day of the attack Boris Gryzlov told the press that the attack was connected with the forthcoming presidential elections in Chechnya, the date for which was set by Vladimir Putin on Friday, when he and the pro-Moscow Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov met in the Kremlin.
Incidentally, according to Gazeta.Ru information the investigators have already prepared composite drawings of the two female suicide bombers who blew themselves up at Tushino, killing 14 young music fans. The drawings are to be made public shortly.
At the session on Wednesday it was also announced that the Interior Ministry plans to ask lawmakers to extend the term of pre-trial detention for persons suspected of perpetrating terrorist acts. The proposed amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code will allow detention of up to 30 days (presently, ten days is the maximum term a person can be held in custody without charges being brought against him). The minister expressed hope that the State Duma would review the amendments in September.
According to Gryzlov, two persons were caught in the Tver Region as they were preparing a terrorist attack yesterday. 31.5 kg of TNT was seized from the suspects, he said. The minister emphasized that ''such a quantity of explosives would suffice for 30 ‘shahid’ belts''. The operation to apprehend the terrorists was carried out by police in cooperation with FSB agents.
The minister also called for a stepping-up of efforts to combat organized crime, saying there was a direct link between the recent terror attack and the activities of organized criminal groups. In the opinion of Gryzlov, so far his subordinates have failed to tackle the problem effectively. According to the minister, the joint work of security agencies is not efficient enough.
''Unfortunately, I have heard some of the speakers saying: ‘We have organized crime groups under control’. I believe such phrases surprise the audience. Nevertheless, I have heard competent leaders, including generals, saying this,'' Gryzlov said. ''I do not think that it is appropriate for the Interior Ministry to control the activities of organized criminal groups. We should divide and destroy them.'' The approach to fighting organized crime should be systematic, the minister added.
Gryzlov suggested that a new post in charge of probing certain criminal groups should be introduced. A criminal police officer and an FSB officer needs to be assigned to each organized criminal grouping, so that he bears personal responsibility for dealing with it. Such measures, he believes, will make law enforcers work more effectively.
Citing classified ministerial reports, Gryzlov also reported that at present each bandit group in Russia controls from 20 to 50 companies either through representatives on company boards, or by ''collecting levies'' from them. In 2003, according to the Interior Ministry, 89 crimes related to the activities of the organized criminal groups were registered – 43 of them in the Central Federal District. 48 and 16 cases respectively have been solved, he said.
However, regardless of the police’s failure to counter organized crime, Gryzlov said the murder of the State Duma deputy Sergei Yushenkov had virtually been solved. Sergei Yushenkov was killed by a gunman near his house in northwestern Moscow on April 17.
Two more people suspected of involvement in the deputy’s murder have been detained. One of them has already confessed to his involvement, Gryzlov said, without giving any further details.
At the end of June the prosecutors detained two residents of Syktyvkar suspected of having carried out Yushenkov’s murder. Shortly afterwards, co-chairman of Boris Berezovsky’s wing of the Liberal Russia party Mikhail Kodanyov and his aide Alexander Vinnik were arrested in the Komi-Perm autonomous regions. The prosecutor’s office said then that those two are believed to have ordered the deputy’s murder.
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