Russia's Investigative Committee has asked the head of National Guard to investigate Chechnya's notorious Sever police battalion, the RBC newspaper reported Wednesday.
The request comes after several Sever troops were implicated in the murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
The request was originally sent by head of the Nemtsov murder investigation Nikolai Tutevich to Viktor Zolotov on Jan. 27, when the latter was heading the Interior Ministry's troops.
The letter said that murder suspect and former Sever deputy commander Zaur Dadayev hid in the apartment of fellow Sever officer Ruslan Geremeyev after the murder.
During the search, a travel warrant to the Russian republic of Ingushetia in Dadaev's name was found in the apartment, along with Geremeyev's travel warrant to Moscow.
Both documents were signed by the head of the Sever battalion, Alibek Delimkhanov.
Dadayev and Geremeyev had not been sent on any official trips and the travel warrants revealed in Geremeyev's apartment had been issued for other people, government officials confirmed. Tutevich said that he believes Dadayev's travel warrant and his law-enforcement employee ID could have be used in the preparation of the murder.
“Improper performance of official duties by military personnel and employees of the battalion became the cause of the murder and its cover-up,” Tutevich said, RBC reported. He asked Zolotov to carry out an official investigation and prosecute those involved in the violations.
Opposition politician and former deputy prime minister Nemtsov was shot dead on Feb. 27, 2015 while walking across the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge near Red Square. Five Chechen nationals have been detained over his killing, including Dadayev.
The Investigative Committee announced Nemtsov's murder had been solved earlier this year, but Nemtsov's daughter Zhanna requested that the investigation was resumed.She wishes to bring charges against Geremeyev, who she alleges was the organizer of the crime.
The investigation claims the killing was ordered by an officer of Chechnya's Sever battalion Ruslan Mukhutdinov, who has been declared internationally wanted.